Opinion: Should the Atlanta Braves bench Ender Inciarte?
By Steven Teal
Atlanta Braves center fielder Ender Inciarte has struggled in the first two weeks of the season to find offensive consistency. Should the Braves consider giving him some time to figure it out?
We’re 22 games into the 2019 season and fans are already calling for a shake-up in the Atlanta Braves lineup. It’s always tough to see players struggle that have the ability to perform at an extremely high level.
That struggling player in question happens to be Atlanta Braves gold glove center fielder, Ender Inciarte.
With so few games played, is it fair to assume he should ride the pine for a little while?
Let’s explore that together.
Has it always been this way?
In his career so far, Ender Inciarte has always seemed to struggle offensively in the first half. He carries a career .259 batting average in 1,560 first half plate appearances.
In those at-bats, he has totaled 371 hits including 18 home runs and 112 RBI.
The Atlanta Braves outfielder has walked just 103 times while striking out almost 100 times more than that (202).
Inciarte’s career on-base percentage in the first half sits at .313 and for a guy that possesses the kind of talent that he does, this number needs to be a little higher.
As I am writing this, Inciarte currently carries a slash line of .197/.269/.310. Those are definitely not numbers Ender wants to have a case for remaining atop the Braves batting order.
It looked like the Atlanta Braves were in for a surprise as Ender had back-to-back 2-hit games at the beginning of April. Unfortunately, a dry spell soon followed.
Ender Inciarte had consecutive 2-hit games April 4-5, and has since gone 2-for-22 with 4 walks, 6 strikeouts (one hit was tonight's bunt single)
— David O'Brien (@DOBrienATL) April 15, 2019
He has picked things up as of late, giving us all hope again. But history tells us that Inciarte is a slow starter.
The question is whether or not the Atlanta Braves can afford to be patient with him?