Atlanta Braves: What is the Value to Keeping Adam Duvall?

Adam Duvall has a very short window to prove he can be effective for the Atlanta Braves this spring, and he is not off to a good start.

When the Atlanta Braves traded for Adam Duvall last season to platoon with Ender Inciarte it seemed like a good idea at the time.

But then Ender finally started hitting like Ender and Duvall received very little playing time. And when Duvall was in the lineup for the Atlanta Braves he was atrocious … and I mean atrocious in every sense of the word.

After being traded to Atlanta he hit .132 (7 hits) in 53 at-bats with one double, eight runs scored, zero home runs, and zero RBI. He also struck out 17 times and walked just three times.

But it’s not like he was an All-Star player for Cincinnati before coming over. With the Reds last year he was hitting just .205 with a .286 on-base percentage in 331 at-bats.

The only promising thing about getting Duvall is that he had hit 15 home runs with the Reds last year, and he had hit 31 and 33 home runs the two seasons prior.

Duvall has to impress the Atlanta Braves early in Spring Training if he is going to make this team. So far that hasn’t happened as he’s 0-for-5 with a walk and a strikeout in three games.

The 30-year-old outfielder is set to make $2.875 million if he breaks camp with the Braves. But, if the Braves cut him before the 16th day of Spring Training they would only have to pay him around $500,000.

That’s over $2 million in savings for the Braves that could be spent to upgrade other spots (pitching anyone?).

Part of me wonders if Duvall even wants to make the team. I know he is trying to do his best, but does he really want to be a reserve again after how poorly that went last year?

The best thing for his career is to get dropped and picked up by a non-contender who will let him play every day. That way he can re-establish his value.

His only real value for the Atlanta Braves would be as a power bat off the bench. I know it was a small sample size, but that didn’t go well at the end of last year.

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However, there is some hope for Braves fans and Duvall.

Despite his struggles as a bench player for the Atlanta Braves last year, he’s actually had decent power numbers off the bench in his career.

In 79 at-bats off the bench in his career, he’s hit .228 with a .315 on-base percentage to go along with 6 home runs. That home run per at-bat total of 13.2 is better than his numbers as a starter (19.5).

So there is some hope that you could use Duvall off the bench against lefties and hope that he hits a bomb every now and then.

Duvall is also known to be very good defensively int he outfield — although I’ve never seen that — so that could be another upside.

In my opinion, the there is more value for both the Braves and Duvall to part ways. If Johan Camargo can transition to the outfield then he and Charlie Culberson can both back-up the corner outfield spots.

Ronald Acuna and Inciarte can both play center. And then, of course, Camargo and Culberson can both play all over the infield.

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Duvall does have some experience at first base, so he could add some depth there. But if I’m the Atlanta Braves, I save the $2 million and let Duvall find a starting role somewhere else.

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