LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – Braves first-base coach Terry Pendleton was giving his initial impressions of third-base prospect Rio Ruiz when a reporter mentioned that Ruiz seemed eager to learn and improve.
“We’ve got a whole camp of eager,” Pendleton said. “That’s awesome. It’s fun. It really is fun to watch.”
Among the dozens of newcomers in Braves camp are an impressive array of prospects acquired in offseason trades, some of them 20 or younger (Ruiz, center fielder Mallex Smith, shortstops Johan Camargo and Daniel Castro, catcher Tanner Murphy) and unlikely to be part of the team’s plans for at least another year or two.
Several other older prospects or rookie newcomers who will compete this spring for spots on the opening-day roster, including infielder Jace Peterson, outfielders Eury Perez and Zoilo Almonte, and pitchers Mike Foltynewicz, Manny Banuelos, Brady Feigl.
And, of course, there is No. 1 prospect Jose Peraza, who is just 20 and has only played 44 games above Single-A, but hasn’t been entirely ruled out for consideration for the opening-day roster if he were to have a terrific spring training.
There’s one notable similarity among most of those young position players: Speed. The Braves, after the spectacular failure of their strikeout-plagued 2014 offense – it relied too much on home runs that came too infrequently — are emphasizing speed more than they have in a long time. This winter they added plenty of burners, prospects and veterans, through trades and free agency.
For instance, Smith led the minor leagues with 88 stolen bases in 120 games last season, and Perez stole 268 bases and batted .305 with a .360 on-base percentage in 698 games over eight minor league seasons with the Nationals. Perez had seasons with 64, 45 and 51 steals from 2010 through 2012, and had more triples (25) than homers (20) in the minors.
“We have an opportunity here,” said Perez, who is competing for the opening-day center field job that became available when Melvin Upton hurt his foot last week. “They’ve got young players here, and now the Braves are changing their game. Using speed to score runs, stuff like that. That’s the new Braves. Don’t have a lot of power hitters. Have speed guys, contact hitters. That’s my game.”
Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez is a big proponent of utilizing speed in his offense and is thrilled with some of the quickness and speed he’s seen from players in camp.
“A couple of the speed guys came via trade, with Smith and Peterson (both from the Padres in the Justin Upton trade),” Gonzalez said. “And then you get lucky to pick off Eric Young, a non-roster invitee, he adds that dynamic. And then you see some of the younger guys, like Peraza, from our own homegrown system.
“Or you see Johan Camargo. Camargo has been so impressive the last couple of days that I asked (Gold Glove shortstop Andrelton) Simmons if he had an outfield glove. Just kidding, but I said, did you ever play outfield before? He goes, ‘Why?’ And I said, you don’t see the kid in front of you? I kid with Simmons.
“But you see those talents and you say, wow. You see Peraza and Camargo and (shortstop/second baseman Daniel) Castro, that are all homegrown guys, and you go, wow, this is a pretty talented group of infielders.”
