Braves latest move shows Spring Training hero should've never been up in first place

Forrest Wall was one of the great stories that came out of Spring Training for the Atlanta Braves. He had 12 hits in 39 at-bats (.308 average) with three home runs and 10 RBI. He also stole three bases and looked good defensively.

Wall's strong showing in Spring Training helped him earn the final roster spot on the Braves Opening Day roster. It was a tremendous achievement for Wall who had just 15 MLB plate appearances in his career entering this season, but was a move that didn't really make much sense roster construction-wise.

Atlanta's latest roster move shows that Wall shouldn't have been on the team all along, as the team sent him down to AAA Gwinnett on Friday and promoted Luke Williams to the majors.

Braves latest roster move shows Forrest Wall should've never been up

Wall deserved to be rewarded for his strong showing in Spring Training, but wasn't the right fit for the final roster spot.

The Braves entered the season with a set outfield of Jarred Kelenic, Michael Harris II, and Ronald Acuña Jr. Harris and Acuña were set to play just about every day. Once they added Adam Duvall in free agency, that created a platoon in left field and added a fourth outfielder to the mix. That meant Wall was the fifth outfielder on the depth chart. How often do you see fifth outfielders play?

In Wall's case, he rarely saw the field. The Braves have played in 17 games and Wall made just two appearances. He pinch-ran in a win over the Diamondbacks, and he was a defensive replacement in a game in which the Braves trailed 12-4 at the time.

He wouldn't start games barring multiple injuries to outfielders, and the need for him to pinch-run clearly wasn't there. Why exactly did he make this team?

The Braves are sending him down so he can play in games since he wouldn't do that at the MLB level. Didn't they expect this coming in, though?

Wall's replacement, Luke Williams, probably won't play much either but can offer more versatility given the fact that he can play in the infield and the outfield. He's a better fit on the team's bench than Wall who clearly was never going to play.