The Atlanta Braves continue to tweak their bench.
After a pair of trades on Thursday morning, the Braves have sent incumbent utilityman Luis Guillorme to the Los Angeles Angels and replaced him with Zack Short, acquired from the Boston Red Sox for cash considerations after Boston DFA’d him over the weekend.
There are things to like about the move by President of Baseball Operations Alex Anthopoulos.
Luis Guillorme was here because his defense was…fine all over the infield. Zack Short’s the same way, albeit with a higher defensive ceiling – he can finish a game or a series if you have an injury, but you don’t want him as an everyday starter.
But despite losing the left-handed bat of Guillorme, there’s reason to think that these two trades can potentially give you more from an offensive perspective (and not just because he’s faster than Guillorme, although that does help): Short’s got hidden potential in that bat.
He’s not yet shown that potential, mind you – Short’s a career .169 hitter in 469 plate appearances, with just thirteen homers against 138 strikeouts.
The potential is there, though.
Short’s career chase rate is 17.3%, more than 10% better than MLB average (28.4%). While his power isn’t absurd – his career-high exit velocity is 108.2 and his 87.6 average is within 1 mph of MLB’s 88.5 average – he put up a 8.7% barrel rate over that sample, almost two percent higher than the MLB average barrel rate of 6.9%.
Put simply: Zack Short may be…short on overall power (sorry), but he’s shown the ability to make optimal contact.
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