Atlanta Braves: Patience will be key with Josh Donaldson

Josh  Donaldson has not gotten off to a great start offensively, but Atlanta Braves and their fans will need to be patient.

Already fans are starting to say that the $23 million the Atlanta Braves gave Josh Donaldson for the 2019 season is a waste of money.

The overwhelming argument on Twitter is that Johan Camargo could be doing just as good at third for a lot less money.

And those people would be right … for now.

The move to bring in Donaldson was not about replacing Camargo, it was a move to make Camargo more valuable off the bench and to give players rest.

Fans are in an uproar right now because Camargo isn’t playing a lot, but it’s the first week of the season. Not many players need rest right now.

As the season goes on I expect Camargo to start getting four or five starts a week as players need more rest.

But going back to Donaldson, we’re going to need to show patience with him.

The 33-year-old has just 4 hits on the season in 26 at-bats for a batting average of .154. Even more surprisingly, all of those hits have been singles.

He’s also walked five times and struck out nine times with an on-base percentage of .290.

Donaldson is a career .274 hitter, so I expect him to hit around .260 this year. And before last year he had hit at least 29 home runs in four straight seasons.

History is on the side of Donaldson, we just have to be patient.