Thank you to everyone that took the time to send in questions for this week’s mailbag. If I didn’t get to yours, we will do this again soon. Let’s get to it!
Would using Sean Murphy & Travis d’Arnaud be an option moving Marcell Ozuna to left field? Just seems better than any other option besides a trade.
At this point I don’t think anything can or should be ruled out, but it doesn’t sound like this is an option that they are considering. Or at least, it isn’t high up the list.
When the Braves kept Chadwick Tromp on the roster as a third catcher, it was natural to think that using Ozuna in the outfield would be a possibility. When Brian Snitker was asked about his outfield Monday, he said that he would use Jarred Kelenic, Michael Harris and Adam Duvall most days. J.P. Martinez is on the roster as a fourth outfielder that can run and play all three of the spots.
When asked about Tromp, Snitker didn’t say that they would continue to carry a third catcher long term, but did say that it would give him the ability to use Travis d’Arnaud or Sean Murphy as a pinch-hitter late in games. The Braves have rarely utilized the 13th position player spot, so carrying Tromp doesn’t really affect the rest of the bench.
There are other things to consider too, though. Ozuna played the first two games of the 2023 season in the outfield and hasn’t made a start there since. During pregame work, he spends most of his time taking ground balls at first base. He could probably make the transition back but again, it isn’t like he was much of a strength out there either.
Additionally, Ozuna has a 141 wRC+ in his career as a DH and a 114 wRC+ when he plays left field. This is a little weird because usually batters face a penalty to their hitting when DHing, but Ozuna’s also more than a little weird in terms of pretty much everything. His bat has been one of the few consistent options the Braves have had. Given their offensive struggles, it probably wouldn’t be wise to mess with him at this point. There are probably specific arrangements, like when Chris Sale and Max Fried are pitching, that would lower the defensive dropoff the Braves would endure by playing Ozuna in left field, but that just makes it even less of a steady plan, and the Braves have been nothing but loath to do anything they can’t rinse and repeat over and over for the last few seasons.
Obviously, the Braves are less without Ronald Acuña Jr., but do you think their outfield defense is better with Kelenic/Harris/Duvall?
Maybe, but it probably depends on what fielding metrics you look at and trust. Acuña has all of the tools to be a great defender but often suffers from less than ideal jumps and an occasional lack of concentration. That said, he tends to make up for things with his arm, which threatens runners into not advancing even when he isn’t throwing them out. Duvall has worked hard in recent years on his defense and has played center field reasonably well.
Losing Acuña’s arm in right will hurt. I don’t think teams will quite as hesitant to send a runner on Duvall as they would have been with Acuña.
How much pressure now falls on Jarred Kelenic to step up his game and if the Braves make a move, how long will they wait to see where they really need to plug a hole?
While this is certainly an opportunity for Jarred Kelenic, all of the pressure doesn’t fall on him. When the Braves acquired Kelenic during the offseason, they said that their intention was to play him every day. That changed after Adam Duvall’s price tag dropped during the spring.
This is an opportunity for Kelenic to show that he is capable of playing every day. The pressure though of replacing Acuña falls on the entire roster. The Braves still lead the majors in average exit velocity and are near the top in many of the expected stats, but that hasn’t translated to production on the field. Without Acuña, they need the entire lineup to produce top to bottom. It’s hard to say that there is pressure on Kelenic now, given that he’s been so bad that the pressure should’ve been on him to show some signs of life even before Acuña got hurt.
If we know anything about Alex Anthopoulos during his time in Atlanta, we know that he will take a measured approach to the situation. If a clear-cut upgrade suddenly became available then, yeah, I think he would move quickly. I think the Braves will let it play out as long as they can and we may not see a move until sometime around the Trade Deadline. Maybe by then, Kelenic won’t be one of the worst bats in MLB.
With two major season ending injuries, Spencer Strider and now Ronald Acuña Jr, which need is more important to trade for? A starter or an outfielder?
Not dodging the question here, but I’m not sure they were in a situation where they necessarily had to trade for a starter. I think that is something that contending clubs look for every season. For the Braves, it would be huge if they could land a starter with additional years of control given the uncertainty surrounding their rotation for next season. However, if you look at this group right now, the top four have pitched well. The fifth spot is a work in progress, but they have plenty of options to throw at it. In fact, they seem content to throw two options rather than one here and there to give the other rotation members some extra rest. Like the outfield situation, I think this is something they will continue to assess as they get closer to the Trade Deadline, but I don’t think they are in a position where they “have” to go make a deal.
I think they probably need to go get an outfielder. Whether it is a starting level outfielder or more of one to just supplement what they already have probably depends on how Jarred Kelenic and Adam Duvall perform over the next month.
So the fifth starters we’ve used this year have combined to produce a net of 0.2 fWAR. Will the front office see this as an area for improvement? What are the Braves options here? Do we think AJSS might be ready, or do they want to continue working with him at Gwinnett? Is Ray Kerr a realistic option? What might be availble on the trade market?
It looked like AJ Smith-Shawver was going to get a chance to take that rotation spot, but he suffered an oblique injury during his season debut against the Cubs and will likely miss about two months. So, let’s scratch him off for now.
Spencer Schwellenbach is the next man up but it is unclear for how long or what kind of leash he might get. He’s probably in a similar situation as Smith-Shawver was last season.
The Braves have already used Darius Vines and Allan Winans this season. Winans hasn’t pitched since May 17, so that is worth keeping an eye on. They still have Bryce Elder and Dylan Dodd, too. Barring a setback, Ian Anderson is due back as well at some point in the second half.
The situation could certainly change. Keeping Reynaldo Lopez and Chris Sale healthy and fresh is going to be a priority for the remainder of the season, which creates a bit of an awkward situation because, if the skid lasts for another few weeks, the Braves will have to start deciding between potentially giving more games away or continuing to give starters extra rest. With that said, I don’t think the Braves are that concerned about their fifth starter spot, at all. The biggest thing, from the team’s perspective, is for those guys to come up and log innings.
I see that everyone is already clamoring for an OF trade. Given that the Braves have a borderline starting quality backup OF (Duvall) as well as a star DH that can passably moonlight in LF, couldn’t you argue that shortstop is still a bigger need than OF following the Acuna news?
I addressed Ozuna in the outfield above and I don’t think that is something we are going to see barring an emergency situation. I could make the case that they need a shortstop but I don’t think that is high up their priority list either.
Orlando Arcia is making $2 million a season and leads the team in defensive value. The offense has lagged behind his numbers from last year, but that is the case with everyone not named Ozuna currently. It hurts more because Arcia is essentially the worst full-timer in baseball offensively at this point, but even so, I don’t think there is any chance they’d consider moving Arcia off of shortstop right now. It’s not even clear the team is particularly concerned about his obvious struggles, since he’s in the middle of the depleted lineup most nights at this point.
Is there a chance the players can be told to be more honest about when they get hurt? There have been examples of players not saying anything when they sustain a possible injury.
I’m going to assume that this question is in regards to AJ Smith-Shawver who said he felt some soreness in his side during the third inning, but didn’t tell the team until after his outing was finished.
The answer is: they are already told not to hide or omit injuries repeatedly. For a rookie like Smith-Shawver who had a chance to take a rotation spot, it is easy to see why he wouldn’t want to come out and mention he wasn’t 100 percent. There probably isn’t a player on the roster that isn’t dealing with some kind of aches or pains. The Braves also clearly have a “go out and play” culture and players talk more about how proud they are of playing every day and how sad they are to not be on the field than almost any other topic.
Is there an update on JR Ritchie? Shouldn’t he be close to returning from Tommy John.
Ritchie is throwing and is slated to face live hitters soon. A rehab assignment is a possibility for the end of next month. As always, a timeline like this is subject to change, but he appears to be progressing on the road back.
