Ronald Acuña Jr.’s return could reshape the Braves’ lineup
The Braves are just a week or two away from having Ronald Acuña Jr. back in the lineup
Ronald Acuña Jr. just homered.
Playing in his first rehab start for the Florida Complex League Braves against a roster of Orioles prospects, Ronald went to deep center in his third at-bat of the day.
It’s day one of a twenty-day rehab assignment, but I honestly do not expect it to take that long. I’ve been told that Ronald’s playing for Triple-A Gwinnett by the end of the week and could potentially rejoin the big league club next week either for their road trip to Washington or for next weekend’s home stand against San Diego.
UPDATE: El Extrabase’s Daniel Álvarez-Montes is reporting the same, and his source is Ronald himself.
UPDATE TWO, ELECTRIC BOOGALOO: Manager Brian Snitker just confirmed the news in his postgame media availability
And that means there will need to be some roster decisions made in Atlanta, specifically, how to add him to the roster and how to configure the outfield when he returns.
Let’s talk about it.
There’s an obvious roster move to be made
I’m sorry, Stuart Fairchild, but it’s likely your final week with Atlanta.
Since he made his Atlanta debut on April 2nd as an emergency trade acquisition in the wake of Jurickson Profar’s PED suspension, he’s made four starts and is 1-23 across sixteen games of action.1 Mostly used in pinch-running situations, the addition of utilityman Luke Williams last week means that Fairchild’s expendable.
If that’s the move that Atlanta makes, the outfield would consist of Michael Harris II in center, Ronald Acuña Jr. in right, and some combination of Alex Verdugo and Eli White in left field.
Or would it?
A left field platoon is the likely outcome here
Part of the reason the Braves have been so slow and cautious with Ronald’s rehab is that they’re trying to avoid the lingering issues that the outfielder suffered after returning in 2022. Dealing with soreness and swelling in the surgically repaired knee, Ronald was forced to alternate between right field and designated hitter early after rejoining the team and then spent half of the month of September as the everyday designated hitter.
The plan this time is for Ronald to play every day. And that means adjustments on the part of everyone else.
The obvious move here, too, is platooning Eli White and Alex Verdugo. While White’s a righty and Verdugo’s a lefty, they’re actually both hitting righties better than lefties this year…but a platoon is still pretty obvious when you dive into the numbers.
(all stats entering Tuesday’s action)
White versus RHB: .297/.338/.547
White versus LHB: .238/.304/.333
Verdugo versus RHB: .296/.351/.409
Verdugo versus LHB: .059/.111/.059
Yep, Verdugo’s just 1-17 with four strikeouts and a lone single versus a lefty this year. While White is better against righties than lefties from a batting average perspective (and fairly anemic from a power perspective), it’s at least a manageable difference compared to Verdugo being atrocious against southpaws. It’d make logical sense that the Braves could attempt to do an initial platoon of Verdugo against righties and White against lefties.
There’s another option, though.
Eli White, super utility
Remember Ben Zobrist? He was a three-time All-Star who played all over the diamond for the Rays and Cubs (with a brief mid-career layover in Oakland and Kansas City). In 2009, he hit .297 for Tampa Bay and was an 8th-place finisher on the back of 27 homers, 91 runs, 91 RBI, and played eight different positions, getting five or more starts at five different spots on the diamond.2
I feel like that’s the optimal usage of Eli White. While we might not need him to play the infield corners, he could spend time as needed at both middle infield spots (starting with second base) as well as any of the three outfield spots where someone needs a day off.
(UPDATE: Ozzie must have heard me writing this - he just broke a 0-for-28 skid with a one-out single in the 6th. I swear, this newsletter’s magic.)
(UPDATE 2, ELECTRIC BOOGALOO: He got another hit and an RBI in the 8th inning.)
Feels like it won’t happen, but could you imagine if it did?
What about the lineup?
Well, half of that change is pretty simple - Ronald’s batting leadoff. Whether or not it’s the optimal usage of his bat is irrelevant. It’s what he wants to do, so he’s going to do it.
But where do you put Verdugo or White when they’re in the lineup? Let’s look at the options.
vs RHP
RF Ronald Acuña Jr
3B Austin Riley
1B Matt Olson
DH Marcell Ozuna
LF Alex Verdugo
C Sean Murphy
2B Ozzie Albies
SS Nick Allen
CF Michael Harris II
(Yes, I know the idea of batting Nick Allen anywhere other than 9th is a bit…suboptimal, given that his OPS now starts with a ‘5’. One, I warned you of that. Two, batting him 9th means three consecutive righties and Atlanta actively tries to avoid that.)
vs LHP
RF Ronald Acuña Jr
3B Austin Riley
1B Matt Olson
DH Marcell Ozuna
C Sean Murphy
LF Eli White
2B Ozzie Albies
SS Nick Allen
CF Michael Harris II
Also, if Drake Baldwin’s in the lineup, bat him 5th. Heck, I’d bat him in the top three, but I’m aggressive there and 5th feels as high as we’ll see him for a while.
There’s still no ideal solution here against lefties in left field - again, both Verdugo and White have better numbers against righties than lefties - but this is better than nothing.
(Just so it’s been said, Drake Baldwin hit .290 versus lefties last season while with Triple-A Gwinnett…but he’s never played the outfield in his entire baseball career.)
At some point over the summer, Jurickson Profar will be back in the lineup. While he hit .300 against lefties last season, 27 points better than his .273 mark against righties, I genuinely don’t know how much we can trust anything he did last season, in light of the PED suspension.
In the meantime, Atlanta will need to paper over the problem as best they can - do they go with empty batting average by having White and his .333 slug off of lefties, or do they let Verdugo see if he can improve against lefties closer to his career .249 average?
Either way, I think we can all agree this is Jurickson Profar’s fault.
If you were curious, his only hit came in his 2nd game with Atlanta. Pinch-hitting for Jarred Kelenic versus Miami, he hit a triple off Marlins reliever Anthony Veneziano.
He didn’t pitch or catch that season, although he did get one pitching appearance in 2019 at age 38 before retiring. He walked two, struck out one, and got Marcell Ozuna, who started in left field for the Cardinals, to pop out to second base. Never got behind the plate in a game, though.
Whenever Baldwin is in the lineup, I'd bat him 2nd. He's patient enough to allow the leadoff to attempt a steal, and can move him up a base or even bring him home. He always gives great at bats.
I would bring Baldwin and Ozuna in and inform them they were both going to the DH position. Ozuna starts and stays there until he goes 0-4 or 0-5. Once that happens, Baldwin becomes the DH and stays at the DH position until he goes 0-4 or 0-5, at which time they switch. By doing this, it gives Ozuna a great incentive to get a hit, and it gives Baldwin time in as well. Of course, this gets put on hold when Baldwin replaces Murphy as catcher. Also, it gives both players the option of pinch hitting when they are on the bench. I really wish they would give this a try, as I think the team could really benefit from this. Let's go Braves!