No matter what measure one uses -- minor-league track record, scouting reports, spring training stats -- Ronald Acuna is ready for the majors. The top prospect in baseball is hitting .432/.519/.727 this spring after demolishing the high minors last year.
And yet the Braves lumped him in the same round of cuts as Rob Brantly.
Because of business considerations, Acuna won't be making his debut for a couple weeks. Delaying his start so he doesn't accrue a full year of service time buys the Braves a full year of team control on the back end. It happens every so often, whether it's Kris Bryant, Buster Posey, etc. While it makes sense from the team's angle, it's always a farce.
And when it comes to farces, people don't always find them funny:
Michael Kopech spared the White Sox from a similar story. The White Sox reassigned him to minor-league camp on Tuesday, but without similar backlash. He's definitely one of the five-most talented starting pitchers the White Sox have, and he could probably iron out any issues in the majors given some time, so the Sox could have been called out along similar lines.
But two terrible outings offset an encouraging first two, including a disaster against the A's on Sunday that caused his numbers to balloon.
- Sunday: 0.1 IP, 3 H, 7 R, 4 ER, 1 HR, 3 BB, 1 K
- Spring: 7 IP, 11, 13 R, 9 ER, 2 HR, 1 HBP, 7 BB, 7 K
(This slip happened around the same time his relationship with his girlfriend allegedly dissolved, and you can learn more about it when the seventh season of "Don't Be Tardy" airs.)
If the season were a sprint instead of a marathon, the Sox would still want Kopech up for a month. But his spring took such a sharp turn that it's more than cover to let Kopech right himself with a couple of low-stakes starts, even if Charlotte was going to be in his cards no matter how well he pitched.
Kopech even provided his own assignment, something the Braves would have appreciated with Acuna instead of reaching for "get into the flow."
“I feel like I did a good job of it last year, but this spring my composure clearly hasn't been there,” Kopech said. “I take responsibility for that. I'm a guy that needs to move on to the next pitch and I'm too worried about making every pitch perfect right now that I'm not able to do that. I know there's a lot to take from that and I see James [Shields] do it, I see a lot of guys do it. [Tyler] Saladino was constantly in my ear today telling me that I need to take a breath to catch my composure and I wasn't doing a good job of that. I need to work on that.”
When it comes to promoting prospects, it's nice when a team can capitalize on a sense of inevitability. Acuna seems destined for stardom along the lines of Bryant, Posey and Mike Trout (who was held back from an Opening Day lineup for slightly different reasons). Holding him back detracts from the whole point of baseball when you have to put business concerns ahead of entertainment, especially when the former requires faith in ownership that hasn't been earned.
Thanks to an 11.57 ERA and an equal number of walks and strikeouts during his time in the Cactus League, Kopech didn't yet attain that manifest destiny. If he starts his time in Charlotte with a couple of gems, the Sox should have the freedom to ride his upswing into a momentous debut, avoiding the whole "what-are-we-waiting-for" period.
I prefer midseason timetables for this reason. Eloy Jimenez could probably start in left field ahead of Nicky Delmonico if service time never existed, but since he hasn't yet reached Triple-A, the Sox are acting within both their rights and reason to wait until he gets some exposure at Charlotte, or at least wrecks Birmingham beyond a small sample. Granted, Yoan Moncada, Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo Lopez spent more time in Charlotte than they needed, but they also had accrued service time from previous stops. From here on out, the White Sox will get the opportunity to start everybody's clocks themselves. The hope is that the business, player and fan interests overlap accordingly.
Following up:
*Kevan Smith had to be carted off the field after spraining his ankle rounding second on Tuesday. X-rays were negative, and he could walk after the game, but it doesn't reduce the chips stacked against him when it comes to the backup catcher battle.
*Jose Abreu also left Tuesday's game with tightness in his left hamstring, but Rick Renteria described it as "just cramping up, or maybe just a light stretch."
