The Braves have signed veteran utility player Brock Holt to a minor league deal, per David O’Brien of The Athletic. He’s received an invite to big league camp and will compete for a bench role.
Holt, turning 34 in June, has played in each of the last 10 MLB seasons, primarily with the Red Sox, but also spending some time with the Pirates, Brewers, Nationals and Rangers. In 753 games, he’s made 2,661 plate appearances. He’s never been a huge power threat with the bat, hitting only 25 home runs in that time. However, he’s still occasionally been competent at the plate, with a career slash line of .262/.332/.362, wRC+ of 89, 19.1% strikeout rate and 8.8% walk rate. Last year, with the Rangers, he had a bit of a swoon, hitting just .209/.281/.298 for a wRC+ of 62.
Defensively, Holt brings great versatility to the table, having some spent some time at every position except catcher, even logging 2 1/3 innings of mop-up duty on the mound. However, he’s spent most of his career innings at second base, third base and left field.
The Braves already have Orlando Arcia as a bench/utility option on the 40-man roster. They also added Phil Gosselin and Pat Valaika into the mix this week, with Holt likely competing against that bunch for a roster spot and playing time.
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