Atlanta Braves: With Ender Inciarte down, is it time for Cristian Pache or Drew Waters
With Ender Inciarte out for likely the rest of the regular season, the Atlanta Braves have a difficult decision to make with their top prospects.
When the Atlanta Braves moved up Cristian Pache and Drew Waters to Triple-A earlier this month, we knew there was a chance they could make their big league debut this season.
As I previously wrote, there is a chance that those two and some of the top pitching prospects in the organization could make a difference down the stretch and into the postseason.
I was at the game Friday night and it was devastating to see Ender Inciarte get injured, and I had just written about how Ender made the Atlanta Braves a better team. It’s really heartbreaking to see this happen to him.
But then thinking forward, my next thought was could this be the moment for one of the Atlanta Braves top outfield prospects?
There is no reason to hold back these prospects if the organization feels they are ready.
Drew Waters has hit .333 in 12 games since being called up to Triple-A but has struck out 19 times with just 2 walks.
Cristian Pache is hitting just .163 but has 6 walks and just 9 strikeouts.
I honestly think if Pache were getting more hits the Atlanta Braves would consider calling him up now.
Both are 20-years-old, so it’s not like there is a big experience difference there.
The reason I lean towards Pache is because I’m more of a defensive-minded baseball fan, and I hear that Pache is an elite defender in center field.
I’ve said before that I don’t think Ronald Acuña is a great defensive center fielder, but I also think he’s a potential Gold Glove player in right field.
I don’t want to see Acuña in center field for the rest of the regular season and into the playoffs — personally, I think that hurts our outfield defense.
Reports I’ve read on Waters say that he’s a plus defender as well, but more of his reps this year have come at the corner spots, so I’d be hesitant to throw him into the quarterback position of the outfield in a pennant race.
But if you believe the aggressive bat of Waters will succeed, then I think he’s the choice to come up and start in center field for the Atlanta Braves.
Or, I think you could call up Pache and use him as a pinch-runner and defensive replacement late in games.
Of course, you could do the same for Waters as he has more stolen bases than Pache this season, but again, that’s only if you feel he’s just as good defensively in center. I’ll take the defense over the pinch-running ability.
And then obviously there is a case to be made to let them both continue to develop in the minors this year and then let them compete for a spot in Spring Training next year.
It’s not an easy decision, and even after putting it all on paper I’m not sure what I would do if I were the Atlanta Braves.
But at the same time, we need to be putting the 25 best players on the roster, and if they feel like Waters or Pache can make this team better there is no reason to hold them back.
Let us know what you think in the comments below. Do you think Waters or Pache should be called up now, or should the Atlanta Braves leave them alone for this season?