Remember when the Braves were so desperate for bench help that they signed washed-up Ryan Howard to a minor-league contract? To no one's surprise Howard showed that he was indeed still washed up before the Braves released him.
At the time the Braves already had washed-up Emilio Bonifacio on the roster. Their bench this season has included Rio Ruiz (.551 OPS when he was sent back down), Jace Peterson (classic “Four-A” guy), Chase d’Arnaud (fringe major leaguer) and Lane Adams (career minor leaguer).
But look at the players the Braves have on their bench now.
Veterans Sean Rodriguez and Danny Santana returned from the DL on Monday . Once-unheralded prospect Johan Camargo has played so well that heralded prospect Dansby Swanson now is a part-timer at shortstop . (Lane Adams most likely will head back to Gwinnett once Arodys Vizcaino returns from the DL but Adams has had his moments .)
The Braves once had a bench full of guys that made you wonder why they were on the roster. Now their bench includes two proven big leaguers and a youngster who is producing now as he learns.
“A year ago we were looking for players,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “Now we’ve got players in here. It’s a good situation.”
I don’t want to overstate things because these players are reserves for a team hovering around .500. Still, Snitker now has legit options to pinch hit, for when a regular needs a day off, or when he needs a defensive replacement who might actually produce some offense.
Rodriguez is tops among the reserves. He had a career-best year at the plate for the Pirates last season: .270/.349/.510 with a .859 on-base slugging over 140 games. Snitker put him right in the lineup at third base on Monday, with Freddie Freeman back at first base ( where he belongs ) and Matt Adams on the bench ( ditto ).
Rodriguez’s 2016 production was an outlier and he’s returning from a five-month rehab for a shoulder injury. So maybe he won’t be as good at the plate but, over his career, he’s been a plus defender at second base and solid at third and short.
Santana hasn’t come close to replicating the offensive numbers he produced for the Twins as a rookie in 2014: .319/.353/.472 with a .824 OPS. He hasn’t been good in the field, either. The Twins finally gave up on Santana and DFA’d him in May before trading him to the Braves.
Still, Santana is a switch hitter who has played everywhere in the infield and outfield. He's a very good baserunner. Santana might still have some value for the Braves and, if not . . .
Camargo is having a fine debut season in the majors. He was at Double-A Mississippi in 2016 and never among the top-ranked prospects in the organization. Now he’s hitting .333 with a .359 on-base percentage and also has shown surprising gap power with 12 doubles.
That’s over just 118 plate appearances for Camargo. His offensive numbers may eventually regress: FanGraphs predicts he’ll finish the season hitting .252 with a .288 OBP. But, like with Rodriguez, Camargo’s infield defense is a plus.
The bottom line is the Braves have bench depth now. No more fliers on washed-up old guys and no more running out young players who aren’t producing.
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