Eli White DVOA, Advanced Stats, & Fantasy Rankings

Atlanta Braves manager Brian Snitker said he would start Eli White in left field against left-handed pitchers, while Alex Verdugo will be in left field against right-handers, as he was for all three games against the San Diego Padres over the weekend. White has hit .291 with nine extra-base hits and an .814 OPS in 87 plate appearances against right-handers. Verdugo has hit .309 with eight extra-base hits and a .760 OPS in 100 plate appearances against right-handers. But White hits from the right side and Verdugo hits from the left side, so the Braves will go with a straight platoon in left field, at least for the time being. "Honestly, I'm not going to rule out anything," Snitker said. "But my plan when we got Ronald (back) was, it's gonna obviously push Eli off of right field. And I think I felt like we'd have kind of a good right-left option in left."

Atlanta Braves outfielder Eli White appears to have the advantage over Luke Williams in the competition for one of the final position-player roster spots, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Justin Toscano. Both White and Williams are similar players, but the difference has come down to their performances in the Grapefruit League. White, 30, has gone 10-for-22 (.455) in 11 games, while Williams has only two hits in his 26 at-bats. Although he's unlikely to see much playing time, White's clearest path to some playing time early in the year could come in a corner-outfield spot with Ronald Acuna Jr. (knee) opening on the injured list and with Jurickson Profar (wrist) a bit banged up in camp. Still, he's unlikely to see much time and barely moves the needle in NL-only fantasy leagues. In his five big-league seasons, White has a .266/.302/.568 slash line with 10 homers, 32 RBI and 20 steals in 171 games.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Justin Tuscano reports that Atlanta Braves outfielder Eli White, who is out of minor-league options, will spend most of spring training working in the infield to give him a chance to display his versatility. If White can impress the coaching staff on the dirt in camp, it will give him a much better shot at winning an Opening Day roster spot as a super-utility man. The 30-year-old has only made four appearances at second base in the big leagues. In his two seasons with the Braves, White has only appeared in 41 games and has gone 12-for-53 (.226) with one home run, four RBI, three stolen bases, 10 runs scored and 19 strikeouts in 59 plate appearances. If he does win an Opening Day roster spot, White will strictly be a bench player and can be ignored in the vast majority of fantasy formats.