For the umpteenth time, this has very little to do with Tucker - outside of the fact that he's producing for this short period. Acuna's simply not hitting RIGHT NOW, and Tucker is. A small part of AA's job is to win games at the MLB level, and for the moment Tucker gives him a better chance to do that until Acuna starts hitting.Originally Posted by Ozzie Swanson
Complain about Tucker's "bad defense" all you want, it hasn't cost the Braves squat - while his bat has provided them plenty. I don't need to waste time going back to search through posts from a year ago where the same people clamoring for Acuna's call-up (while he's as cold as ice) were perfectly fine with having Kemp out there for 3 ABs if Snitker would replace him for defense late. He's actually doing that now with Tucker and it's working.
As GeorgiaGirl rightly points out, Acuna's just in a funk right now - when he finally snaps out of it, no one will get in his way. Not making the move just now has everything to do with Acuna, and nothing to do with Tucker. If and when Tucker stops producing, I can't imagine anyone would complain about him being replaced - even if Acuna's still not hitting and you replace him with Adams.
There are plenty of "reasons to believe" that the team's nice start is unsustainable, but a sure way to end that start internally is to bench players that are currently producing in favor of players that are striking out at a 38% clip because you decided months ago to put the non-productive player in the lineup on a certain date. When he hits, you play him - not before - otherwise you're simply not doing your job correctly. Acuna's done nothing to force anyone to play him yet.
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