It was easy to be impressed with what Cristian Pache did after being named starter in the National League Championship Series last year. But Braves manager Brian Snitker said it’s too early to believe the prospect will kick off the year as Atlanta’s starting midfielder.
“We’ll see how spring training goes,” Snitker said. “I love what Pache does. But that’s how you tell young people, “You don’t have a baseball card yet,” so he has to earn the job. “
Pache became a starter for the Braves after an angled injury that sidelined Adam Duvall from Game 1 of the SCLN. The young cop’s previous Major League experience consisted of two regular season games and two defensive changes in the playoffs.
But Pache went 4-for-22 with a double and a homerun in the play-offs, which gave rise to be considered the club’s best internal option. His great defensive potential was on display when he stole a homerun from Max Muncy in Game 5.
The question is whether it would be best for him to continue playing in the majors on a daily basis or to further develop his attack. It was easy to be impressed with what Cristian Pache did after he was named starter in last year’s National League Championship Series. But Braves manager Brian Snitker said it’s too early to believe the prospect will kick off the year as Atlanta’s starting midfielder.
“We’ll see how spring training goes,” Snitker said. “I love what Pache does. But it’s like telling young people, ‘You don’t have a baseball ticket yet,’ so he has to earn the job. ‘
Pache became a starter for the Braves after an angled injury that sidelined Adam Duvall from Game 1 of the SCLN. The young patrol’s previous Major League experience included two regular season games and two defensive changes in the playoffs.
But Pache went 4-for-22 with a double and a homerun in the play-offs, which gave rise to be considered the club’s best internal option. His great defensive potential was on display when he stole a homerun from Max Muncy in Game 5.
The question is whether it would be best for him to continue playing in the majors on a daily basis or continue to develop his attack with the minors while the Braves play it with Venezuelan Ender Inciarte.
“I’m not going to say if it’s a competition or something,” said Snitker. “We’re going to have the whole preseason. Everyone gets a chance to play a lot. We’ll see what happens.” In the minors, while the Braves play with the Venezuelan Ender Inciarte.
“I’m not going to say if it’s a competition or something,” said Snitker. “We have the whole preseason. Everyone gets a chance to play a lot. We’ll see what happens.”
While Snitker wants to describe the battle for position as a competition, Pache arrives at the camps with the opportunity to be the Braves’ central patrol every day. If the spot is won, Inciarte would become an expensive fourth outfielder, whose main task would be to come to the end of the games as a defensive replacement for Marcell Ozuna.
But if Pache proves it is convenient for him to start the year in the minors, the Braves can give midfield to Inciarte or Venezuelan Ronald Acuña Jr. move to that position. Sure, that second option requires a different rangers for the corners. .
Pache, who is the 12th best prospect in the majors by MLB Pipeline, hit 11 home runs with a .815 OPS in 104 games at Double-A Mississippi in 2019. Finally developing power in recent years, questions are about his abilities offensives declined.
But the 22-year-old will have to show his talents in the coming weeks as he competes with Inciarte, who has hit .225 with a .657 OPS for the past two seasons. The three-time Golden Glove winner will earn $ 8 million in the last year of his contract.
“I think it’s about seeing where everyone is this spring,” Snitker said. “We will let each other’s games and performances lead the way. I don’t know how else we could do it.”