Atlanta Braves Debate: Will Adonis Garcia Start Opening Day Over Rio Ruiz?

Garcia vs Ruiz…Who Gets The Nod When It Comes To The Braves Starting Third Base Job?

Spring training is going through its final weeks as teams are starting to narrow down the roster and finalize what the team will look like for Opening Day. On Sunday, the Atlanta Braves announced the Opening Day pitcher and the starting rotation for that first week.

The positions are all but confirmed with Freddie Freeman set to man first-base, Dansby Swanson for shortstop and Ender Inciarte, Matt Kemp and Nick Markakis to patrol the outfield. One position that is still back-and-forth when discussed is third-base.

The easy assumption is to go with Adonis Garcia for the hot corner, but there are some reasons to say otherwise.

First off, Garcia has been sidelined with a hamstring injury and only just returning to the lineup on Tuesday — his first game in nearly two weeks. Though before his injury, he had been doing pretty well for himself in spring, hitting .333 with a home run and six RBIs.

However, there is another person trying to challenge Garcia for the spot: Rio Ruiz.

Ruiz has been doing plenty to build his stock and showing why he deserves at least a spot on the team to start the season.

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The 22-year-old has a .304 batting average for spring with a home run and five RBIs, playing in 18 games (double the number Garcia has played this spring).

In 2016, Ruiz was called up to the majors in September after hitting .271 in Triple-A Gwinnett. In the majors, he hit .286 in five games.

Many believe there is still room to grow and improve for Ruiz, which is a reason why some believe he might start the season back in AAA.

On the other hand, other people ask if Garcia deserves the Opening Day spot. Garcia committed 18 errors last season and even though he started to improve later in the season, that is still a lot of errors.

The 31-year-old, Garcia, bats right-handed and depending on the Opening Day lineup, that could be five out of eight batters (excluding the pitcher) to be a RH batter. A reason to bring this up is Ruiz bats left and would therefore even up the line-up.

Rio Ruiz will be on the major squad at the end of the season though…

No doubt, at some point in the future, Ruiz will take the third-base position all to himself and Garcia becoming a bench role or be part of a different team; but for now, it would seem Garcia is taking that role.

There is the chance that Ruiz won’t start the season in the minors, but stay and platoon with Garcia. There has been some talks about that as it would give the Braves both a RH and LH batter at the third base position.

Another positive for each of them is Garcia has pop in his bat and can provide the occasional home run power. While Ruiz would be expected to be more consistent. — Side note: Garcia did finish with a .273 average last season.

The problem with keep both Garcia and Ruiz on the MLB roster is that both of them are limited to only third base.

Garcia has made a few appearances in left field, but it didn’t last long nor was it good. Platooning would allow for Ruiz to get playing time in the majors, but until he fully gets the position to himself, (I would assume at least two-thirds of the time) he wouldn’t be at his full potenial.

Putting Ruiz in the minors until the Braves need a replacement would give him the chance to play almost everyday, if not everyday.

Next: Guess What? You Can Read More About Rio Ruiz

For now I would say the Braves start Garcia and have Ruiz be in the minors for a little bit. I’d be surprise if they didn’t call him up before the All-Star break.