Evan Gattis may join B.J. Upton in outfield for Atlanta Braves during 2013 regular season-MLB News
Minor Leaguer for Atlanta Braves, Evan Gattis might man the outfield along with B.J. Upton if the latter is acquired by the club from free agency. While Upton has an established reputation as an incredible defensive player, Gattis is on his way to building
it through stand out shows in the Minor League.
From the way Gattis performed in the Venezuelan League, it can be maintained that he is not far from a Major League debut. He finished at the top of the table in a number of offensive categories.
While he may require more work with regard to defence, offensively he has left hardly any doubt about his potential by putting up consistent shows at the plate in the Venezuelan League.
Upton is expected to unveil soon as to which organisation he has decided to play for. The Braves are among the primary contenders for his acquisition. Another outfielder that they are interested to obtain is Michael Bourn, who played for them during 2012
season but now is a free agent.
If the talks between Bourn and Atlanta fail, the Braves will eye Upton for finalising a deal with him so that they could fill an empty spot in their outfield.
Though Gattis has been impressive recently, the Braves cannot afford to solely rely on him. He can only be considered as a back-up option or for performing a designated hitter role.
Braves’ General Manager, Frank Wren has acknowledged that a terrific run of form by Gattis which has recently turned the attention of officials toward him.
“I think we were impressed with just his overall development as a hitter, showing more power,” Frank Wren said. “He’s becoming a more prefessional hitter. He got our attention enough that we felt we should put him on the major league roster and see if he
could take it to next level.”
As can be observed, GM has mentioned only the offensive improvements by Gattis as opposed to terming him a full time position player. This means that Gattis has yet to reach a level where he could be as good defensively as he is offensively.
By showing consistency in a similar fashion in his performance until the beginning of the 2013 Major League Baseball season, he can secure a place in the Major League line-up of the team anytime.
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