Braves call up Pache for big league debut

Top Braves prospect Cristian Pache, whose path to The Show was interrupted last month by an ankle injury, was called up Tuesday to make his Major League debut.

The 21-year-old was not in the starting lineup against Washington at Truist Park. But with fellow outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. on the Injured List with a sore left wrist and Nick Markakis going on the IL due to potential exposure to COVID-19, he joined the big club from its alternate training site in nearby Gwinnett County, Georgia.

Invited to Major League Spring Training for the second year in a row, Pache batted .269/.286/.577 with two homers and seven RBIs in 13 Grapefruit League games. A day after going yard in a split-squad game against the Orioles, he returned to Minor League camp on March 11.

“He’s a kid that is going to start at Triple-A,” Braves manager Brian Snitker told reporters at the time. “Hopefully not, but it’s more than likely you’re going to need a guy like that before the year is over. It’s good to see his development. You know the defensive [aspect]. There’s no doubt about that. It’s just the strength and maturity offensively.”

However, with Markakis initially opting out of the pandemic-truncated season, Pache was brought up last month to play intrasquad games. On July 13, he suffered a Grade 2 sprain of his right ankle while sliding into second base.

The Braves returned Pache to Minor League camp in the spring to work on his offense, but many believed his defense was big league-ready last year. MLB Pipeline gives him 70 grades for both fielding and his arm on the 20-to-80 scouting scale and former Atlanta outfielder Andruw Jones proclaimed him the best defensive outfielder in the system before he'd played a game above Class A.

"His defense has always been there, but his bat took a giant step forward in 2019," Braves director of player development Dom Chiti told MiLB.com in October when Pache was named an Organization All-Star for the third year in a row. We're really excited to see what comes next."

Signed as an international free agent in 2015, Pache has moved quickly through the organization, despite being one of the youngest players at each Minor League level he's played.

The native of the Dominican Republic slugged a career-high 12 homers last season while putting up a .277/.340/.462 slash line with Double-A Mississippi and Triple-A Gwinnett. He was a midseason All-Star each of the last three years, beginning with Class A Rome in 2017 and continuing with Class A Advanced Florida the following season.

Last July, he represented the Braves at the All-Star Futures Game and batted leadoff for the National League squad in Cleveland.