At some point in the near future, Ronald Acuña Jr. will be back in the lineup for the Atlanta Braves. At that time, he’ll take his usual spot in right field. When he does take his spot, a decision will need to be made about one of the two outfielders currently patrolling the corners for the Braves in the meantime: Alex Verdugo and Eli White.
If you thought Michael Harris II was even in this discussion, I don’t know what to tell you. He’s obviously locked into center field the way Acuña is into right field.
Both have recently been part of the Braves modest turnaround. Since Jurickson Profar is missing half the season and would be ineligible for the postseason, one of these guys will need to stick around to play left field.
When evaluating performance at the plate, it’s a more difficult decision than you might initially think. Here is each hitter’s slash line over their last 12 games. This number was picked because that’s the number of games that Verdugo has played since joining the Braves:
If you’re committed to power, then it’s White all the way. However, Verdugo has still been a nice addition to the top of the lineup. He also provides another lefty bat. Verdugo also had a larger sample size than White, who only recently also got more playing time.
This is technically White’s last 12 games, but he’s only at had at-bats in his last nine – just so you know what I did there.
That being said 36 plate appearances are enough to determine a trend. So, while Verdugo has had more trips to the plate, White’s recent performance has the credibility.
We can take this a step further if we want to discuss experience. Verdugo is the more established big leaguer. He might have been a late addition in March, but he’s been an everyday player since 2021. White’s time as an everyday player has essentially just begun.
So, Verdugo might be the safer pick to keep around in left when Acuña is back in right field. However, there has to be a way to keep White’s bat in the lineup.
There is a position we can turn to for that: shortstop. White has previous experience as a shortstop in the minors, exactly 278 games. That’s a solid sample size. He also played it in a few games during Spring Training.
Even with the addition of Nick Allen, it’s still another weak spot in the lineup. Orlando Arcia has essentially lost his starting job. He’s played once since April 18 and that was on April 22. Allen has shown he has a solid contact bat, but he lacks the pop. He and White could platoon the position while Verdugo sticks around in the outfield.
It could make for a nice compromise to maximize the players who are making an impact.
