As the reigning NL MVP Ronald Acuña Jr. sustained a torn ACL on Sunday afternoon, Alex Anthopoulos will have to replace him for the second time in the last four seasons, which is an almost difficult feat.Naturally, the last time this occurred, the Braves won the World Series as a consequence of a sequence of deals that saw the signings of Adam Duvall, Jorge Soler, and Joc Pederson. It was spectacular, and if the Braves are to stand a chance of winning the Commissioner’s Trophy in October, Anthopoulos will probably need to perform in a similar manner over the course of the next few months.
It’s not simple to make decisions this close to the trade deadline, though. Few teams are attempting to sell, and even those that do might hold off until closer to the trade deadline in order to spark a bidding war amongst contending teams. The Braves will continue to start Jarred Kelenic and Adam Duvall every day in order to make due with what they have.It makes the most sense to do this. Both Kelenic and Duvall have very strong defensive games, but their attacking game has been a little lacking. Getting at-bats every day should help them get into a rhythm, but the Braves may need to come up with other solutions if they can’t find a groove with the bat.
J.P. Martinez, who was recently called up, might receive some chances. Marcell Ozuna in the field is one of the most interesting choices, but Forrest Wall is also an option in Gwinnett. It won’t look good, and he hasn’t done that in years, but it would allow Marcell Ozuna, Sean Murphy, and Travis d’Arnaud to be in the lineup at the same time. That’s the best-case scenario offensively, but given how awful Ozuna is in the field, I think it will only be used as a last choice.