ATLANTA — We are three weeks into the Major League Baseball season, and some teams are still trying to figure out which players should be in certain positions.
This could be due to injury or performance, but a number of teams still have a revolving door of players being slotted into positions to see if they can stick.
One of the squads that are still trying to figure some things out on their roster is the Atlanta Braves. So far, the Braves are playing well despite some injuries and uncertainty, and they’re sitting atop the National League East division with a 13-4 record.
But now that starter Max Fried has returned to the team, the biggest question for Atlanta is, who will be their left fielder when fully healthy?
Host Jake Mastroianni of the Locked On Braves podcast asked that question on his latest podcast. He said, “Here we are, three weeks into the season, and I still don’t think the Braves have a left fielder.”
The Braves have a lot of options. Eddie Rosario, Sam Hilliard, Kevin Pillar, and Marcel Ozuna. Mastroianni thinks Hilliard has played the best so far. He points out his .976 OPS (on-base percentage plus slugging) in 10 games and his 18.8% walk rate, but he also mentioned Hillard’s high strikeout rate, which is nearly 45%.
He’s struck out 14 in only 27 at-bats. Mastroianni quickly said he likes what Hilliard brings to the table defensively. Mastroianni said, “I really think it just makes the outfield a lot more athletic when you have Hilliard out there, especially when you have (Michael) Harris in center and Acuna in right.
Mastroianni added that Rosario and Ozuna don’t need to be in the outfield if the Braves can help it.
He explained that Rosario has been fine out there, and his arm is also fine, but he doesn’t want to see Ozuna in left field at all. Mastroianni also thinks that Ozuna needs to earn his playing time and that there are guys on the team who are probably more deserving of it than Ozuna.
And finally, we have Kevin Pillar.
“I don’t really like Kevin Pillar as an everyday player," Mastroianni said. "He’s fine as a spot starter, pinch runner, or defensive replacement. Essentially what Guillermo Heredia has been doing the past couple of years, but he’s (Pillar) not a solution for me.”
Pillar is an 11-year veteran whose career batting line is .259/.296/.407 with 97 home runs.
For the Braves, it should come down to Hillard and Rosario, in Mastroianni’s opinion. Both are lefties which means you can’t platoon them and out of those two, if he had to choose someone for left field right now, Mastroianni picked Hilliard because of his defensive versatility.
Mastroianni said, “If you’re not going to get much production offensively out of that spot, then at least put somebody out there that’s going to help you win games defensively.”
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