We saw on Tuesday night just how valuable outfield defense can be, which is why the Atlanta Braves need to recall Cristian Pache.
What Alex Anthopoulos did to revamp the Atlanta Braves outfield at the trade deadline was truly amazing.
And while he couldn’t be picky with who he got, defense was not really the strong suit of Jorge Soler, Eddie Rosario, and Joc Pederson.
Adam Duvall is a good defensive outfielder — when he’s playing his more natural position of left or right field. He’s done a serviceable in center but he is by no means a center fielder.
And I know Guillermo Heredia made a great catch on Tuesday, but he’s not a center fielder either.
As I wrote a month ago when I thought the Braves should give Cristian Pache another chance, there currently isn’t a center fielder on this roster.
When you’re playing tight games and have a bullpen that doesn’t strikeout a ton of batters, you need to put a great defense behind them.
Rosario is not a terrible defender, but he’s not great either and nearly cost us the game on Tuesday.
Pache needs to be added to this roster immediately for late-game defense.
I really don’t know the value of keeping him in Triple-A for four more games worth of at-bats when he’s clearly needed on the Major League roster.
And I believe Pache should be part of the postseason roster as well for that same reason.
With Pache, you get a Gold Glove defensive replacement in center field who can cover the gaps and make up for some of the deficiencies of the other outfielders.
I know the roster is tight and you’d have to probably cut Guillermo Heredia, but I think it’s a move worth making to try and help avoid potential late-inning disasters like what we saw on Tuesday.