Hector Olivera will work in left field and at third base during spring training, Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said Saturday during FanFest at Turner Field.
Olivera was acquired from the Los Angeles Dodgers in a late July deal. He spent time with eight different teams last year, including 24 games with the Braves.
“I feel positive that he is going to have a better year just because of everything he went through last year,” Gonzalez said. “It was a difficult. He sat in the Dominican almost halfway through spring training, then hurried up, hurt himself with the Dodgers and got traded. I think his life is more settled. He spent a winter here in the United States. He’s going to have six weeks of spring training with us.”
Atlanta hitting coach Kevin Seitzer went to Puerto Rico to watch Olivera in winter ball. Seitzer returned confident that Olivera could play left field.
“As we know, what makes a good left fielder is if you can hit, right?” Gonzalez said. “And this guy, we feel like he can hit. He’s going to play left field and we might run him out at third base and get him some ground balls too … give us some flexibility for the roster. But I think this guy’s going to hit.”
