Braves third baseman Chris Johnson will go on the disabled list with a fractured left hand, MLB.com’s Mark Bowman reports on Twitter. Top prospect Michael Foltynewicz will take his roster spot to make his first big league start after picking up 16 relief appearances last year.
Johnson, 30, has not been forced to the DL since a short stint back in 2010. And he continues to produce an excellent batting average, hitting right in the range of his career mark this season.
Of course, the issue with Johnson has never been his ability to generate hits; it has been his inability to consistently hit for power or reach base by other methods, combined with substandard defense. His career slash stands at .283/.319/.418, right at the league average. But by measure of wins above replacement, he has produced less than a full total win in over 2,500 turns at bat. This year, likewise, Johnson currently owns a sub-replacement level mark (by measure of Baseball-Reference) in spite of a sturdy-enough .286/.340/.381 line.
His best season, of course, came in 2013, when he turned from a bit piece in the Justin Upton trade to a highly productive regular. Somewhat unfortunately for Atlanta, that coincided with the team’s aggressive push to lock up multiple players to extensions. Of the deals signed, only Johnson’s really looked bad from the early going. The three-year, $23.5MM pact kicked in this year, leaving Atlanta on the hook for $17.5MM (including a 2018 option buyout) in 2016-17.
Johnson has worked in a timeshare this season, as Alberto Callaspo, Kelly Johnson, and Phil Gosselin have all seen time at the hot corner. While that means that the Braves have plenty of options to fill in for Johnson, the club surely hopes that he will be as productive and healthy as possible given his contract. Even if the team can’t stay in the race this year, it would surely like to find a taker for some of Johnson’s contract.
As for Foltynewicz, a 23-year-old righty, Atlanta will get a chance to see one of the key pieces it acquired in the winter’s Evan Gattis trade. He is off to a strong start at Triple-A, allowing just five earned in 21 2/3 frames while posting 12.5 K/9 against 4.2 BB/9. The Braves will surely give him every chance to succeed as a starter, though some believe his future will be in the late innings as a reliever. Foltynewicz was a consensus top-100 prospect last year, though his stock slid somewhat after an unproductive 2014. MLB.com does still list him as the game’s 78th overall prospect.
Meh. Callaspo is a singles hitter with a better glove anyway.
I like Callaspo a whole lot better. 13 man staff seems unrealistic though, it’d be cool to see Peraza called up but I imagine Ciriaco or Cunningham will get it.
Either way Folty can’t be worse than the Braves staff-minus Miller lately, can’t wait to see him pitch.
take dough boy out of Atlanta why did we give up wandy for this guy.
All I know is that if his nickname isn’t Faulty Towers, they just aren’t trying.
All I ask of Folty is to never require a 2nd opinion from Dr. Andrews and stay healthy.
I don’t like this move. It does help the team in the short run, and Fredi said that Folty has earned a shot at the majors, but I haven’t heard anyone defend this from a ‘eyes on 2017’ standpoint. Would Folty benefit the 2017 team more if he spent more time this year at AAA should be the question we’re asking
I think it is more of the log jam that is about to occur at the AAA level some hard decisions will have to be made soon. Banuelos,Folty,Wisler, and on the tale end of that Fried returning from injury late in 2015 or early 2016 Hursh, Jenkins approaching AAA level soon too. Cahill and Stults are obviously not long term pieces. Minor,Teheran,Wood,Miller would seem to be that leaves 1 rotation spots and a ton of candidates. I think getting big league starting time for these young guys in 2016 and 2017 is going to be hard to do with out injuries or a lot of moves.
Don’t forget Williams Perez. He has better and more consistent stats than any of them, and he’s pitching better than Foltynewicz right now.