10 Spring Training Position Battles With Major Fantasy Baseball Implications

Atlanta Braves' Left Fielder

This isn't truly a position battle. If it were a position battle, the player who performed best would be given the spot on opening day. There are more factors at play for the Atlanta Braves with Ronald Acuna.

Because Acuna is yet to make his MLB debut, the Braves could gain an additional year of team control by holding him in Triple-A to start the season. Acuna's currently the 115th overall pick in NFBC, meaning any lost volume would certainly hurt.

We saw a similar situation to this a few years ago with Kris Bryant. The Cubs had Bryant start the year in Triple-A before eventually having him debut on April 17th. He still logged 650 plate appearances that year, hitting 26 long balls with 13 stolen bases. If we were guaranteed that with Acuna, then the cost would be worth it.

But this is also a different situation with Acuna. The Cubs were contenders that year, eventually winning 97 games and snagging the National League's second wild-card slot. The Braves lost 90 games last year and are projected to finish 10 games below .500 by PECOTA in 2018. Their sense of urgency doesn't need to be as high with Acuna as the Cubs' was with Bryant.

From a performance standpoint, there's not a ton of reason to believe Acuna will struggle in the minors, assuming he starts there. But he did have a 31.7% strikeout rate in High-A last year, dipping to 23.0% in Double-A and 19.8% in Triple-A. Struggles are within his range of outcomes. If he stumbles out of the blocks, it could be even more time before we see Acuna in the majors.

If Acuna goes nuts in spring training, it'll pretty much force the Braves to have him up as soon as possible. But if there are even slight struggles, it could justify extended time before Acuna's debut, making him much harder to stomach at his current cost.