Braves Named Candidate to Sign Multi-Award Winning OF

The Ronald Acuña Jr. injury recovery and Jurickson Profar suspension has greatly hurt the Atlanta Braves outfield depth. Most nights early this season, it's placed the team in a position to start both outfielders Bryan De La Cruz and Jarred Kelenic.

Bleacher Report's Kerry Miller proposed a potential alternative Tuesday -- veteran David Peralta. Miller named the Braves one of four candidates to sign the free agent veteran corner outfielder.

"Peralta is notably one of the older options out there, turning 38 in a few months. He still hit pretty well last season, though, and he can still add value on defense as a corner outfielder who won a Gold Glove in 2019," wrote Miller.

Miller admitted Peralta is not going to be a solution against left-handed pitching for an MLB team. Last season, Peralta hit .200 with a .635 OPS in a limited sample against lefties.

Over his entire career, Peralta owns a .240/.305/.358 slash line with a .663 OPS against left-handers. Versus righties, the veteran has hit .288 with an .814 OPS during his career.

Those numbers make Peralta a potential platoon option for the Braves. De La Cruz has hit .247 against right-handers versus .267 against left-handers in his career although his OPS versus both lefties and righties is about the same.

The question, though, is if Peralta has anything left in the tank at 37 years old. He won both a Silver Slugger and Gold Glove award with the Arizona Diamondbacks but those awards came during the 2018 and 2019 seasons, respectively.

Whether the Braves are interested in Peralta could depend on Acuña's continued recovery. If the 2023 MVP winner is ready to return in May, it might not be worth the Braves signing Peralta.

By the time the veteran outfielder is ramped up and ready to contribute, Acuña could already be on the verge of returning.

The Braves will also get back Profar at the end of June. Even though it's unclear what version of Profar the Braves will be getting, the Braves are likely to re-insert Profar into the lineup immediately.

So, any outfield addition the Braves make has to come with flexibility.