Atlanta Braves perennial mid-year addition debuted as everyday center fielder in March bumped into the left field wall in July and his season was over.
The Atlanta Braves traded for Adam Duvall almost as often as the Mets traded for Kelly Johnson. After winning the World Series in 2021, the team decided to save a step and extended him through 2022.
Atlanta Braves opening day center fielder
It’s an odds-on bet that Duvall didn’t know he’d become the Braves opening-day center fielder when he agreed to an arbitration deal for $9.275M. Then the owners had a brain cramp and locked players out, making it impossible for teams to do their off-season shopping,
When the smoke cleared, Duvall was the only realistic option the Braves had on board. Reviews are mixed on how well he played the position. Baseball Savant gives him three outs-above-average, which ties him for 28th in MLB with Mike Trout, Bradley Zimmer, and six others, while The Fielding Bible has him tied with 69 others at zero runs saved.
The eye test told me he was uncomfortable in center field, took horrible routes to some routine fly balls, and made superb catches on others. He’s not going to kill a team playing center field, but a Gold Glove isn’t in his future.
Duvall at the plate
Calling Duvall a streaky player undersells how sporadic his hitting can become; he can hit home runs in bunches, then not put a ball in play for a week.
In the 86 games he played for the Braves this year, Duvall batted .213/.276/.401/.677 with an 87 OPS+ and hit 12 homers. It’s fair to say that when he was playing every day in center field, his mind was focused on defense because he batted a puny .191/.263/.274/.537 with two homers and 56 Ks in 175 PA.
There’s no mention of Duvall buying
Michael HarrisII dinner when he arrived, but when the
. If anyone needed proof that moving a player out of his comfort zone can have a negative effect on his offense, this should do it.
Then Shohei Ohtani hit a slicing foul ball down the left field line, and Duvall bumped into the wall.
It looked an innocuous enough incident at the time, then Duvall was lifted as a precaution, x-rays showed he needed surgery, and his season was over.
That’s a wrap
There’s no way of knowing how the Atlanta Braves would have moved forward had Duvall escaped uninjured. It’s likely that the Braves don’t acquire Robbie Grossman and aren’t forced to play our nominal DH in the outfield or shuffle utility plays through the position, but the end result is likely the same.
Duvall is a free agent five days after the World Series ends, and I doubt he’s high on the list of players to bring back. At his best, Duvall is a fourth outfielder on a contending team or a veteran clubhouse presence and starter on a rebuilding team.
Wherever he plays, we here at the Take wish him the best, except when he’s playing the Braves.