The Atlanta Braves outfield looks significantly different than most of us thought it would be coming into the 2021 season.
The Atlanta Braves season has not gone well up to this point. Some of this can be credited to the Braves outfield not being as good as most hoped coming into the 2021 season. The Braves thought to have Ronald Acuña Jr., Cristian Pache, and Marcell Ozuna in the outfield for this season.
Acuña has been great and is making a case for an MVP. The other two have not contributed as much.
Pache struggled to hit and currently finds himself in AAA trying to figure things out. He is still a top prospect meaning it is way too early to give up on him. He should be back and (hopefully) better than ever.
Since returning from his injury, Pache has been playing quite well in Gwinnett with an OPS over 1.000. Hopefully, this is a sign of things to come.
Cristian Pache HAMMERED this baseball for his second home run of the day and his third hit. THIS is the swing. His OPS is 1.087 in his 6 games in Gwinnett pic.twitter.com/NfPOQltecW
— Garrett Spain (@BravesMILB) June 11, 2021
Ozuna probably will not be back anytime soon. He is facing some legal issues that not only leaves the Braves a hole in left field, but in the middle of the lineup.
While Pache was expected to hit at the bottom and contribute mostly on defense while his bat came along, Ozuna was supposed to provide some power in the middle of the Braves lineup.
Now, the Braves are forced to play guys like Guillermo Heredia, Ehire Adrianza, Ender Inciarte, and Abraham Almonte. A lot of AAAA guys and fourth outfield type players are being asked to play regular innings in Atlanta.
This article is going to look at how the current outfield is performing and what may be the best option for the Braves going forward.
We will not be spending much time on Acuña. His evaluation: Very Good. MVP type season.
The purpose here is to look at the other four guys making up the Braves outfield, starting with Guillermo Heredia.