Braves Outfielder Continues Spring Training Tear

It was White’s first home run and first RBI of the spring. With how well White had been seeing the ball, it felt due. Through 13 plate appearances over seven games, White is slashing .545/.615/.815. He has reached base eight total times on six hits, one walk and a hit by pitch. 

This continues a trend we have seen over the course of multiple Spring Trainings. His career stats during this time of year are a .299 average and an .893 OPS with nine home runs and 23 RBIs. 

Last season, White was an occasional bench player for the Braves, making most of his impact in the final month of the season as a late-game defensive substitution. But he did get hops is trips to the plate, and he made them count. He finished 2024 batting .282 with a .769 and a 113 OPS+.  

He played well to end last season, and he’s kept it going into March. However, it’s difficult to determine if this effort will be enough to swipe one of the outfielder spots on the staff. 

Jarred Kelenic and Bryan De La Cruz are the ones expected to fill in for Ronald Acuña Jr. while wraps up his recovery from an ACL tear. 

Kelenic currently has a .956 OPS and is on a Major League contract he and the Braves agreed to over the offseason. De La Cruz is on a non-guaranteed deal and could be dropped in favor of White. However, the outfield acquisition is currently batting .357 with an .857 OPS. White is having a better spring, but De La Cruz could still be playing well enough to stay ahead. 

However, while he might be out for an outfielder spot, he could still easily be earning a bench role. MLB.com’s Mark Bowman initially predicted that Luke Williams would be the outfielder to pick up a bench role. But he is currently 1-for-15 in Spring Training. 

If it comes down to these two, and both hitters continue their trends, the Braves would be making a logical decision rolling with White. 

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