Will Atlanta Braves Give The Keys To Nick Swisher For Left Field?
By Jeff Schafer
With the Atlanta Braves trading Cameron Maybin, still leaves an outfield that remains crowded, but left field remains a bigger question then the crowed outfield.
Right now on the active 40-man roster for the Braves, six of those players are considered outfielders.
Out of these seven guys, Perez and Toscano are not even listed on the current depth chart. So where do these two end up? Back in the minors, unless either has an outstanding spring training?
The current depth chart has Olivera in left field, Bourn in center field and Markakis in right field.
So that means Swisher will be on the bench? We all know Swisher can play first base as well, but he is not going to start at first over Freddie Freeman.
Therefore, Swisher should start in left field over Olivera.
Yes, the stats from 2015 for Olivera and Swisher are bad no matter who you put in left field, so lets compare how they played.
Olivera was a 30-year old rookie who only played in 24 games and only had 79 at-bats. He had a .253 batting average, with two home runs and 11 RBI’s.
Swisher on the other hand might be 34-years old, but he has been in the majors for 12 seasons, playing in big time games with the likes of the Oakland Athletics and New York Yankees. He has excelled every year, with the exception of last season, when combined between playing for the Indians and Braves, he only played in 76 games, compiling 219 at-bats. Swisher hit a combined .196, with six home runs and 25 RBI’s.
The Braves tried this experiment a few years ago with moving a catcher to left field…see Gattis, Evan. Can the front office really think Olivera can play a solid defense in left field or is this just a move to continue to get his bat into the lineup? Or, can this move be foreshadowing for a potential big name third baseman to come to Atlanta?
Within the next few months, we’ll find out all the answers to our questions, but for now we can get a little enjoyment out of speculating.
Now you might ask, why? Swisher had a terrible season last year. The answer is simple – experience, not stats.
Experience will be key for the Braves, as they need to do something to turn next year around and forget this past season. Swisher will bring that to this team.