The Braves announced today that left fielder Mallex Smith has been placed on the 15-day disabled list due to a fractured left thumb that will sideline him for the next eight to 10 weeks. To fill his spot on the roster, the Braves have selected the contract of fleet-footed veteran Emilio Bonifacio from Triple-A.
[Related: Updated Atlanta Braves depth chart]
Smith, 23, came to Atlanta in the 2014-15 offseason’s Justin Upton trade and worked his way onto the big league roster earlier this season when Ender Inciarte hit the disabled list. However, even upon Inciarte’s activation, Smith stuck on the roster. The speedster is hitting .237/.312/.379 with three homers and 14 steals in the Majors this season and has drawn excellent marks from both Defensive Runs Saved and Ultimate Zone Rating while splitting his time between left field and center field.
Bonifacio will be returning to the Braves for his second stint, having previously spent the second half of the 2014 campaign with Atlanta following a trade from the Cubs. He’s hitting .271/.321/.319 with 22 stolen bases through 252 plate appearances with the Braves’ Triple-A affiliate this season. Presumably, he’ll see quite a bit of time in left field, though he’s also plenty experienced at second base and has more than 1000 big league innings at the hot corner, so Atlanta could bounce him around the diamond as needed.
Well this loss will certainly cripple the Braves’ season…can the front office really expect Bonifacio to match his production?
Now the Mets have competition out there on the trade wire…
That’s really unfortunate because the Braves have been playing good baseball since he assumed the leadoff spot and was showing some promise.
Braves start playing better and then this happens. He looks like a piece of the future. Although, I’m not sure he and Inciarte can co-exist in the same outfield long term given their power limitations
Yeah the outfielders better hit 150 homers per year between them or there’s no point in taking the field.
Please tell me that was a joke
I think its a joke to say 2 players cant be in the outfield because they don’t swing for the fence all day every day.
No, but the Braves biggest issue is a woeful lack of power. The easiest positions to find power hitters are in the outfield and first base. Atlanta’s first baseman is a bit under-powered, so if you have two singles-hitting outfielders you’re really limited to positions to add power.
And a single and a stolen base isn’t as good as a double, simly because it’s highly unlikely to drive in a runner from first. The more sequencing a team relies on to score runs the less runs they’re going to score, simply because they’ll use up their outs first. This braves team, with its woeful 332 SLG% and 32 homers in 69 games, is absolute proof this approach doesn’t work to score runs.
They could create the best 1-2 in baseball, which is a primary reason why the Braves are on a winning streak right now.
That would let Albies develop at the bottom of the lineup. Freeman/Swanson have power potential and leave catcher, 3B, and probably left field as outlets to plug in 20 hr power hitters.
Why cant they co exist? Power limitations are irrelevant when you have guys that can turn singles into doubles with steals. Single and a steal is just as good as a double.
Pickoffs, caught stealing, GIDPs..
I think the Cubs trading Murton to the Braves after this injury would be a good fit. The Cubs don’t have room to call him up and he wouldn’t cost much (maybe cash considerations). The Braves could see how he does. If he is good trade him before the deadline, if he does bad it was a low-risk move, so release him.
Will hurt his development, but do not think it entirely hurts the team. It is a non competitive year, but have enjoyed the uptick in production as a whole. Give Boni and Frenchy some more starts while Mallex is out.
He said “Boni”
When is Olivera due back maybe he can light it up enough to be able to trade him. Highly doubt it though
I think literally the day of the deadline.
That’s a shame. Such an exciting player. Hope he takes his time healing. Look forward to watching him play.
I can’t believe how hard it is this day and age to find someone that can hit 15 homers and man LF. The Braves can’t find that type of production. I don’t care if they are paying more for a fourth outfielder than a starter, but they need that type of threat for when this happens or for Pinch Hitting
Technically they do have that, Frenchy. 162 game average he is good for 10-15. Problem is with ATL right now they have so many small contracts and different lineups and he is probably past the time of 600 PA.