Azocar was briefly on Atlanta’s MLB roster this year. He signed a big league contract on May 30 and spent a little more than two weeks on Brian Snitker’s bench. He was limited to two appearances, both as a late-game substitute, and flew out in his only at-bat. The Venezuela native also played twelve games with the Mets earlier this year. He made five starts and went 5-18 (all singles) with a pair of walks and a stolen base.
Aside from his few weeks on Atlanta’s bench, Azocar spent the rest of the year in the Mets organization. He returned to New York on a minor league contract after the Braves released him in mid-June. He spent the season at Triple-A Syracuse, hitting .241/.314/.352 in just under 300 plate appearances. Azocar stole 17 bases in the minors, but had his third consecutive below-average offensive season. He owns a .276/.318/.416 line over parts of five Triple-A campaigns and is a career .244/.290/.319 hitter in 418 MLB at-bats.
Azocar won’t provide much at the plate, but he is a plus-plus runner who can play all three outfield positions. Defensive Runs Saved has him rated as an average defender in just over 1,000 career innings. Statcast’s Outs Above Average is a bit more optimistic, rating him four points above par. Most of the defensive value comes from his 2022 rookie season in San Diego, when he played in a career-high 98 games.
Atlanta has four established outfielders Ronald Acuna Jr., Michael Harris II, Mike Yastrzemski And Jurickson Professor. They have a few players who are out of options (Mauricio Dubon, Eli White And Vidal Brujan) who can provide some speed off the bench if they make the team. Bruján’s split contract makes him a candidate to be cleared off waivers at some point, but Azocar would remain sixth on the outfield depth chart. It’s unlikely he’ll break camp barring an injury to someone ahead of him during Spring Training. It’s likely he’ll head to Triple-A Gwinnett to start the season.
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