Hector Olivera To Play Winter League Ball
By Fred Owens
Atlanta Braves third baseman Hector Olivera (28) in action against the New York Mets in the first inning at Turner Field. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports
There was a brief flurry of Twitter traffic this afternoon about the upcoming winter league schedule for a Dian Toscano and Hector Olivera.
According to Jorge Perez a columnist / blogger for El Nuevo Día both Olivera and Toscano will play for the Caguas Creoles in the Puerto Rico winter league.
@DOBrienAJC Caguas will also bring Yoan Moncada. Rusney Castillo played for them last winter.
— jorge l. perez (@6418luis) October 2, 2015
@DOBrienAJC My mistake... Oliveras to play til mid December. Six weeks. Cora mentioned he was suprised they'd let him for so long.
— jorge l. perez (@6418luis) October 2, 2015
This is third base, look at it remember it, next slide. . .
What I think all that means is that the Braves have agreed with Caguas that Olivera will play essentially the first half of the season and then be replaced by Toscano. This year’s schedule isn’t posted yet but last season the league ran from 30 October through 17 January and include about 55 games.
If the season is similarly constructed that would give Olivera about 32 more games to get used to playing third base. While Cora was shocked about the length of time Olivera will be with hi steam it’s fairly easy to understand.
Prior to this season Olivera had never stared a game at third and so far injury has limited him to 47 games there this year. After taking that shot directly on his elbow this week Olivera hasn’t started a game. Adonis Garcia starts there again tonight.