Atlanta Braves and third base (again)

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Johan Camargo currently mans third base for the Atlanta Braves but a better bat make sense. (Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images) /

Atlanta Braves’ everyday lineup is pretty good at baseball but another power bat in the form of a third baseman would make it a lot better.

The Atlanta Braves lead the NL is runs scored – 246 – and are fourth in the league defensively with 17 DRS and a 7.6 UZR.

They strike out less than the rest of the NL and rank second in OBP (by .006), wOBA (by .003), wRC+ (by 1) and team fWAR (by 1.)

There’s always room for improvement of course and the most obvious area needing attention is third base.

I don’t know – third base

The Jose Bautista/third base experiment ended as expected. Johan Camargo’s reinstatement made fans happy and aside from a brain freeze in last night’s game, he’s played sterling defense; unfortunately he’s not hitting.

Statcast indicates his .214/.382/.386/.768 line and .336 wOBA includes some hard luck, saying he should be hitting .263, slugging .444 and have a .379 wOBA.

Ryan Flaherty lost his job in the Bautista disaster. Relegated to a bench role, he’s been to the plate 11 times without a hit including last night’s game.

Neither player’s likely to provide the pop lacking in the Atlanta Braves’ lineup and with the other positions locked in, third base is the spot they’ll look to add it.

Moose to turn loose

The Royals signed the soon to be 30 year-old Mike Moustakas this spring after he declined their qualifying offer and failed to find an acceptable contract offer last winter.

In the three seasons before his injury in 2016, Moustakas posted a puny line of .246/.305/.403/.707 with a .310 wOBA and 94 wRC+. Returning after injury cost him the 2016 season, he hit .272/.314/.521/.835, a .345 wOBA and 114 wRC+.

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This season looks much like 2017; a .289/.333/.513/.847 line with .356 wOBA and 123 wRC+. Moustakas doesn’t strike out, walks slightly below league average and has never had a BAbip over .300.

His peripherals haven’t changed much in his career making last year look like an outlier instead of a breakout. At his best Moose can be expected to provide 20+ homers and a low OBP bat with league average defense.

Bringer of Rain

He’s not a Greek gladiator, (his nickname comes from Spartacus, Blood and Sand) but convincing Blue Jay fans of that might be difficult. Since Alex Anthopoulos stole the now 32 year-old Florida native from Oakland, Donaldson’s brought a flood of runs and excitement to Toronto

From 2015 through 2017 he terrorized AL pitching, hitting .281/.382/.550/.932, with a .399 wOBA, 153 wRC+ and 111 home runs. His presence solidified the middle of the Jays’ order, something he’d be expected to duplicate in Atlanta.

Donaldson strikes out at the same rate as Moustakas – just below league average – but walks twice as often (13.5%.) His best defensive years were 2014 and 2015, since then all metrics show him as about league average.

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