On Tuesday afternoon, the Atlanta Braves officially announced that starting second baseman Ozzie Albies would be going on the 10-day IL due to an injury sustained Monday night against the Astros.
In the corresponding move, Atlanta recalled veteran utility man David Fletcher from Triple-A Gwinnett, who brings a significant amount of MLB experience to the Braves in the absence of Albies. When taking a closer look, what are the Braves getting from Fletcher and just what impact might he have?
What impact could David Fletcher have with the Atlanta Braves?
As mentioned previously, David Fletcher is a veteran at the MLB level who has seen time defensively at five different positions in the major leagues, a majority of which came at second base. Fletcher also has 534 career games of MLB experience, all of which came during his six seasons with the Los Angeles Angels from 2018-2023.
Across those six seasons, Fletcher slashed a combined .277/.323/.359 with 16 HR, 168 RBI, and 29 SB, while also holding a noteworthy 208:135 K/BB ratio offensively.
Looking back at last season, however, Fletcher appeared in only 33 games at the MLB level with the Angels, slashing .247/.302/.326 with two HR and 12 RBI. At season end, Fletcher would be traded to Atlanta on December 8, 2023, as part of a multi-player deal, and was shortly after outrighted to Triple-A Gwinnett where he recently began the 2024 season, slashing .280/.383/.320 with seven RBI and two SB across 13 games, while also holding a 9:5 K/BB ratio.
David Fletcher arrows (see what we did there) a ball down the line to bring home two runs to take the lead. pic.twitter.com/hWSPoLY3Y6
— Gwinnett Stripers (@GoStripers) April 7, 2024
As for Fletcher's potential impact in Atlanta, the veteran will certainly see time at second base in the absence of Albies, but will likely come in a platoon with fellow infielder Luis Guillorme.
While not a power hitter, Fletcher has shown an ability to hit for contact at times in his MLB career and is a player who doesn't strike out very often. Fletcher is also good at drawing walks offensively and holds a combined 25:14 K/BB ratio across 94 games at the major league level during the last two seasons.
Simply put, Fletcher is more than capable of filling in for Albies over the next two to three weeks, and if he were to perform well, he could stay in Atlanta even after the second baseman returns from injury.