Atlanta Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman, left, and newly acquired third baseman Josh Donaldson talk before taking batting practice Thursday at spring training.KISSIMMEE, Fla. – If Ronald Acuna Jr. moves down in the Atlanta Braves’ batting order this season, Ender Inciarte and Ozzie Albies could be the top candidates to lead off.
“I’m going to wait and see where we’re at in a couple of weeks. I don’t think we have to set a lineup right now, and it could change,” manager Brian Snitker said Thursday, when the team held its first full-squad workout at spring training. “I have different ideas, but I don’t think right now or even a week from now we have to have anything set.”
Acuna hit .328 in 66 games as a leadoff hitter last season, when he batted .293 overall with 26 home runs in 111 games and was voted the National League’s top rookie. Atlanta went 90-72 and won the NL East, its first division title in five years.
As for Acuna’s opinion on his lineup spot?
“If it was up to me personally,” he said, “I would like to stay in the leadoff spot, simply because I like hitting there.”