What It Means:

Ozuna won a Gold Glove in 2017, but his defense has declined in recent years, leading Bowman to speculate that the Braves use him in the DH spot. Bowman also discusses Nick Markakis, Adam Duvall, and Austin Riley as players who could see DH at-bats for Atlanta this season. Riley is competing with Johan Camargo for the starting third base job, but Camargo is the superior defender. Meanwhile, Riley offers intriguing power at the DH spot after recording 18 homers and a .475 slugging percentage over his first 80 games.

According to Baseball Savant’s Outs Above Average leaderboard, among the 66 outfielders who had a minimum of 200 attempts last year, Markakis ranked 47th with -2 OAA and Ozuna ranked 58th with -8 OAA. As for Riley, he homered once every 11.5 at-bats through his first 42 games last season.