The Braves barely survived a crazy game on Saturday night, thanks to another 8th inning offensive-surge, followed up with a bang-bang play at first to get the final out in extra-innings. Atlanta is now up 2-0 in its current series against the Diamondbacks, and will go for the sweep on Sunday afternoon. Appearing to be the unluckiest team in the majors to begin the 2025 season, the baseball gods are giving the Braves some love of late; the D’Backs Eugenio Suarez belted four home runs last night, making Atlanta just the third team ever to allow four long balls to one player and still win the game.
It’s all sunshine and rainbows right now for Braves Country. Winning seven of 10 will have that effect, with the Braves lineup firing on all cylinders. But as we know, in the very near future, the roster (the outfield specifically) is going to get shaken up once Ronald Acuna Jr. returns.
It’s felt like forever, but Acuna is still a missing piece for the Braves. And overall, the team has missed him dearly. Among all MLB teams as of Sunday, Atlanta right fielders rank 27th in OPS (.565) and dead last in AVG (.173) so far this season. But it appears 30-year-old Eli White is doing his best to turn that around.
Until this season, we hadn’t seen much of White as a Brave. After Atlanta acquired the now 30-year-old from Texas back in December of 2022, White has primarily played with Triple-A Gwinnett, logging six games with the big league team in 2023 and just 35 all of last season. He’s already up to 18 games so far in 2025, and his bat has made a real impact, as he’s slashing .267/.333/.533 with four XBHs (2 HR) in 33 total plate appearances so far; those numbers are good for a 138 wRC+, making him third on the team right now among batters with at least 10 plate appearances this season.
Eli White has really reached another level as of late. He’s only struck out once in his last three games, as part of a 4-for-13 (.308 AVG) stretch. Three of those four hits have gone for extra bases, including two homers and seven RBIs. Who knows how long he can keep this up. But the good news is he doesn’t have to for much longer, as it’s becoming increasingly likely we’ll see Acuna back in the Braves lineup at some point in May (RAJ is supposed to begin a rehab assignment any day now).
A week or two ago, the idea of Acuna coming back likely meant the end of the road for White. Jarred Kelenic was receiving the majority of the playing-time in right field, as White was primarily utilized as just a late-innings pinch-runner. And it felt like given Stuart Fairchild is the more established major leaguer that he too had a leg up on White perhaps from the start. But with Kelenic (.167 AVG / .531 OPS) and Fairchild (.050 AVG / .200 OPS) both simply awful at the plate so far this season, it looks like White is the front-runner to become the fourth outfielder when all is said and done.
At this point, it appears Fairchild could be the odd-man out once Acuna is back. Despite how bad he has been, keeping Kelenic up is probably best as it not only maintains his last MiLB option, but it also gives the Braves a left-handed batter on the bench – something this team doesn’t have (other than catcher Drake Baldwin). The bottom-line, though, is White has certainly made things more interesting for when it’s finally Acuna Day and the Braves star returns.
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Photo: David J. Griffin/Icon Sportswire
