Atlanta Braves Have Phillips, But Bench Questions Remain

The Atlanta Braves recovered very nicely to the loss of Sean Rodriguez in getting Brandon Phillips from the Reds.  But that likely won’t be the end of that chapter as the Braves continue to sort out the fallout.

Sean Rodriguez was definitely going to be interesting to watch in 2017 to see if he could repeat success from 2016.  But in the wake of his personal calamity, a rearrangement of the deck chairs is in order for the Atlanta Braves.

You see, Rodriguez had positional flexibility while also being an everyday player.  He could play any infield position (mostly 2B and 3B) and maybe even some corner outfield in a pinch.

Brandon Phillips?  A grand total of 20 innings not playing 2B in his entire major league career – most of that coming 10 years ago when he was still 26 years old.

He’s been great at second base… but would be a fish out of water anywhere else.

So what if Freddie Freeman needs to be spelled at 1st base?  Ender Inciarte in Center? Nick Markakis in right field?  What options do the Braves now have available for positional flexibility?

Here are the initial answers:

A lot may depend on whether the team opts to carry twelve or thirteen pitchers (13 is not unusual to start a season), so that leaves the following for position players – as of today:

• Infield:  Freeman, Phillips, Swanson, Garcia
• Outfield:  Kemp, Inciarte, Markakis
• Catchers:  Flowers, Suzuki
• Bench:  Peterson, d’Arnaud

That’s eleven names.  There are several possibilities, then, for slots 12 and 13:

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• Rio Ruiz.  If there ends up being a 3rd base platoon, then he’s most likely as #12.  If not, he will probably stay at Gwinnett for the sake of getting more reps.
• Anthony Recker.  We’ve carried three catchers before.  Not often, though.
• Emilio Bonifacio. You realize he’s still just 31 years old?
• Mel Rojas Jr.  We’ve bandied his name around on these pages as an internal outfield option.
• Kelly Johnson.  More versatility – though he’s unsigned and turns 35 next week.
• Angel Pagan.  The most productive of any unsigned outfielder… will be 36 mid-season.

Yes, you could mention Matt Wieters, but he would simply displace Kurt Suzuki rather than being a 12th or 13th name, so that’s a different topic.

Not much more left to say at this point except the nagging feeling that another move or another signing could be coming.

The Braves have the holes kind of filled… but it feels Coppy is using chewing gum and duct tape to make that happen.

One thing for sure:  if this team is going to be nipping on the heels of Washington and New York in 2017, it will be due to improved health and a strong bench.  The former cannot be controlled; the latter could be bolstered before we get to Opening Day.

This will make for some interesting choices to be made between now and then.