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Braves Option Sean Newcomb

By Steve Adams | September 14, 2020 at 9:39am CDT

The Braves optioned lefty Sean Newcomb back to their alternate training site just two days after recalling him, per a club announcement. His roster spot goes to Touki Toussaint, who is up from the alternate site to start tonight’s game against the Orioles.

It seems increasingly likely that the 27-year-old Newcomb isn’t in the team’s plans for the remainder of this season. The southpaw was clobbered for 17 runs in just 13 2/3 innings across four starts earlier this season and sent to the alternate site to try to right the ship. He didn’t get into a game in his most recent return to the roster, however, and Newcomb will now be required to spend 10 days at the alternate site unless he’s recalled to replace a teammate who is being placed on the injured list. That minimum optional assignment will take him nearly through season’s end.

Just two years ago, Newcomb looked to have established himself as a mainstay on the Braves’ staff. He followed a respectable rookie showing in 2017 with 164 frames of 3.90 ERA ball and nearly a strikeout per inning in 2018. The Braves moved him to the bullpen in 2019 after some early struggles as a starter, and he responded to that role quite well, posting a 3.04 ERA with 9.6 K/9 against 3.2 BB/9 through 51 outings.

With Newcomb headed back to the team’s alternate site now, it’s fair to question whether he’ll pitch for the team again in 2020. At this point, it looks like he’ll fall a bit shy of reaching three years of service time, which he’d need to reach arbitration eligibility. While Newcomb would technically have the service time needed to qualify as a Super Two player, that status also requires a player to have spent 86 days on the active roster or injured list in a conventional season. That comes out to a prorated 31 days in this year’s shortened schedule, but Newcomb was optioned out less than three weeks into the season and only picked up two additional days of service in this most recent stint.

If he indeed remains in pre-arbitration status, then perhaps the Braves will keep him around and hope for better results next year. There’d be little harm in doing so, and Newcomb will have a minor league option remaining even after being optioned in 2020. That said, his standing within the organization certainly looks to have tumbled over the past couple seasons as he’s been leapfrogged by several younger arms. He’ll likely have to earn his way back into the mix next spring, and it’s not hard to imagine other clubs inquiring on the former top prospect as a change of scenery candidate this winter.

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Atlanta Braves Sean Newcomb Touki Toussaint

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Braves Designate Robbie Erlin, Recall Sean Newcomb

By TC Zencka | September 12, 2020 at 11:44am CDT

The Atlanta Braves have designated starter Robbie Erlin for assignment, per the team. Sean Newcomb has been added to the active roster to take his place.

Erlin’s tenure in Atlanta was short, in the grand scheme of things. He made 7 appearances, 5 starts, for a 8.49 ERA/6.75 FIP while allowing 8 home runs over 23 1/3 innings. The Braves have been desperate for rotation help, claiming Erlin off waivers from the Pirates on August 7th.

Newcomb made his debut as a starter for the Braves in 2017, but by 2019 he made himself into a valuable piece of the Braves’ bullpen. He posted a 3.16 ERA/4.24 FIP across 68 1/3 innings in 51 appearances and 4 starts in 2019. When the bottom fell out from the Braves’ rotation plans in 2020, Newcomb stepped in and made four starts to disastrous results: 11.20 ERA/7.51 FIP while walking 4 per nine innings and striking out 6.6 per nine. Despite the currently-thin rotation, the Braves plan on returning Newcomb to the bullpen, per The Athletic’s David O’Brien (via Twitter).

The Braves might see some reinforcements in the rotation shortly with Cole Hamels expected to make his Braves’ debut on Wednesday, per O’Brien (via Twitter). Huascar Ynoa, Bryse Wilson, and Newcomb can provide multi-inning efforts from the bullpen, while Josh Tomlin, Ian Anderson, Kyle Wright and Hamels take turns in the rotation. Max Fried can be activated from the injured list as early as Wednesday to join the rotation, but the Braves have not updated his health status yet.

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Atlanta Braves Newsstand Transactions Robbie Erlin Sean Newcomb

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Ronald Acuna Jr. Exits With Apparent Foot Injury

By Connor Byrne | September 11, 2020 at 7:19pm CDT

7:19pm: The Braves look to have dodged a bullet. They announced that Acuna underwent X-rays that didn’t reveal a fracture. He’s day-to-day.

6:33pm: Braves star outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr. exited their game Friday with an apparent left ankle/foot injury, Mark Bowman of MLB.com was among those to report. Acuna departed after fouling a ball off his foot, and he had to be helped off the field. The Braves replaced him with Ender Inciarte.

The severity of Acuna’s injury isn’t known yet, but anything requiring an absence would be worrisome for the Braves at this late stage in the season. They hold a three-game lead in the NL East, but it’s fair to say they’ll need a healthy Acuna in the fold if they’re going to make a serious run at a World Series in the next couple months.

Acuna missed time earlier in the year with a left wrist injury, but he has been better than ever when he has taken the field. The 22-year-old has slashed a career-best .286/.440/.667 (184 wRC+) with 11 home runs and a personal-high 20.2 percent walk rate in 134 plate appearances.

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Atlanta Braves Ronald Acuna

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Braves Place Tommy Milone On IL, Outright Charlie Culberson

By Connor Byrne | September 10, 2020 at 3:46pm CDT

The Braves have placed southpaw Tommy Milone on the 10-day injured list with left elbow inflammation and outrighted infielder/outfielder Charlie Culberson to their alternate training site, per a team announcement. They recalled righty Huascar Ynoa to take Milone’s roster spot.

Owing largely to the injuries that have sidelined Mike Soroka and Cole Hamels for extended periods, the Braves entered the Aug. 31 trade deadline looking like a team in need of starting help. The well-traveled, soft-tossing Milone was their only acquisition in that area, though he did join the Braves after a good season-opening run in Baltimore. Milone posted a 3.99 ERA/3.89 FIP and 9.5 K/9 against 1.2 BB/9 in 29 1/3 innings as an Oriole, but his Braves tenure hasn’t gone nearly as well. While Milone has fanned nine hitters and walked two in 9 2/3 frames since the trade, opposing hitters have teed off on him for 16 earned runs on 22 hits.

Now, with so little time left in the season, it’s unclear whether Milone’s elbow will heal quickly enough for him to return. He’s now the fourth Braves starting option on the IL, joining Soroka, Hamels and Cy Young contender Max Fried. The Braves still hold a two-game lead in the NL East in spite of their injuries, but their rotation looks dangerously thin at the moment. Fortunately for them, Hamels and Fried may not miss much more time.

Culberson was a fairly regular member of the Braves’ lineup from 2018-19, in which he accumulated 466 plate appearances and batted a respectable .267/.316/.457 with 17 home runs. He also lined up at several positions then and has played at multiple spots this year, though he hasn’t accrued many at-bats in 2020. Before the Braves designated Culberson for assignment Tuesday, he went 1-for-7 with four strikeouts.

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Atlanta Braves Transactions Charlie Culberson Tommy Milone

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Braves Reinstate Ozzie Albies From 10-Day IL, Option Johan Camargo

By Mark Polishuk | September 9, 2020 at 9:38am CDT

Ozzie Albies is back on the Braves’ active roster, as the second baseman was activated from the 10-day injured list after missing over a month due to a bone contusion in his right wrist.  In the corresponding move, infielder Johan Camargo was optioned to the Braves’ alternate training site.

Albies played in only 11 games and was hitting .159/.196/.273 in 46 PA before being sidelined, though the Braves are hoping that a fully recovered Albies will now look more like his past All-Star form.  Albies’ return should only enhance the Braves’ already-strong offense, and considering how Atlanta’s rotation has been ravaged by injuries, the Braves may need to slug their way through the pennant race until they can get some of their top hurlers back.

Camargo and Adeiny Hechavarria handled much of the second base duty while Albies was out, and Camargo will now head to the alternate site while the veteran Hechavarria remains as Atlanta’s lone current utility infield choice.  The hitting struggles that plagued Camargo in 2019 have carried over to this season, as he has batted just .200/.244/.367 with four home runs in 127 plate appearances.

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Atlanta Braves Transactions Johan Camargo Ozzie Albies

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Braves Place Max Fried On IL, DFA Charlie Culberson, And Other Roster Moves

By TC Zencka | September 8, 2020 at 9:03am CDT

The Atlanta Braves announced a number of roster moves this morning, the most consequential of which was placing ace Max Fried on the injured list, retroactive to September 6th, the team announced. Also, Kyle Wright was recalled and Jacob Webb reinstated from the injured list. Fan favorite utility man Charlie Culberson was designated for assignment.

Fried might be the single most important player on the Braves roster right now as the only reliable high-end arm in the rotation. In the wake of Mike Soroka’s season-ending injury, Mike Foltynewicz’s demotion, and Cole Hamels’ injury, Fried has ably stepped up and developed into an ace for the Braves. He’s currently a top contender for the Cy Young in the National League with a 6-0 record through 9 starts, 50 innings, a 1.98 ERA/2.47 FIP, and zero home runs allowed.

A worrying drop in velocity hit a season low in his last start on Saturday, as illustrated here by PitcherList.com (via Twitter), averaging just 91.7 mph after being as high as 94.1 mph for his first two starts of the year . The injury listed is a left-side muscle spasm of the lumbar spine, aka back spasms. The Braves are obviously hopeful that some rest and treatment can get him back on the hill.

In the meantime, Hamels is on the comeback trail, and he could be activated as soon as next Monday, per Baseball America’s Gabe Burns (via Twitter). For now, Wright will return from their alternate training site in Lawrenceville to re-join the rotation. The Braves will hope for better results this time around for the 24-year-old, who was hit with a 7.20 ERA/6.48 FIP while going 0-3 in 4 starts earlier this season – though The Athletic’s David O’Brien reports that Wright is just up for a spot start. Still, Wright is highly regarded, their 4th ranked prospect by Fangraphs, Baseball America, and MLB.com.

The 27-year-old Webb could provide boost to Atlanta’s right-side relief corps. Webb has yet to appear in 2020, but he put up a 1.39 ERA in 39 games in 2019 – his first big league experience. The 6’2″ right-hander brings a 95 mph heater buttressed by a curveball and 86 mph change that generated a 40% Whiff% in 2019.

Culberson, 31, only appeared in 9 games this season going 1 for 7 with a double and RBI. The utlilty man has mostly been used as a pinch-runner this season. Culberson had some big hits for the 2019 Braves, but he took a Fernando Rodney fastball to the cheek on a bunt attempt in Washington which broke his cheekbone and ended his season. Culberson hasn’t seen regular playing time since the injury.

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Atlanta Braves Newsstand Transactions Charlie Culberson Jacob Webb Kyle Wright Max Fried

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Cole Hamels, Ozzie Albies Nearing Returns

By TC Zencka | September 8, 2020 at 7:51am CDT

When the Braves signed Cole Hamels to a one-year, $18MM deal, he checked all the right boxes: veteran, short-term deal, fierce competitor, playoff-tested, particularly painful for a playoff rival. But triceps tendinitis has kept Hamels from the hill and forced the Braves to turn to Plan B lefties like Tommy Milone, Sean Newcomb, and Robbie Erlin. Some solutions have worked better than others, but despite a rotation in constant flux, Atlanta holds a 2-game lead in the NL East with less than 20 games to play.

Their need for Hamels is no less intense, however, because while the season itself has gone by in the blink of an eye, the playoffs will actually be longer than usual. For a team with back-to-back NLDS losses, the Braves are well aware of the potential pitfalls awaiting them in the postseason. So it’s not a moment too soon that Hamels could be nearing his return.

The veteran lefty threw live batting practice to Ozzie Albies on Sunday, leaving the Braves encouraged about the potential return of both players, per The Athletic’s David O’Brien (via Twitter). The Braves will wait another couple of days before letting Hamels throw a similar session, but if there are no red flags, Hamels could return to the rotation shortly thereafter.

As with many pitchers who have returned in this single-league environment – such as Charlie Morton of the Rays – Hamels may ease back into the rotation with 1-2 inning outings at a time. That doesn’t give the Braves and Hamels unlimited time to get him on track before the postseason, but he could still get 2-3 tune-ups before the playoffs.

Hamels has run hot-and-cold in recent seasons with the Chicago Cubs, nonetheless sustaining the comeback that began with 12 starts of a 2.36 ERA to finish 2018 after his exile in Texas. In his lone full season with the Cubs, Hamels went 7-7 in 27 starts with a 3.81 ERA/4.09 FIP over 141 2/3 innings. Hamels could return to the roster as soon as Monday, per Baseball America’s Gabe Burns (via Twitter). The Braves certainly don’t want to rush the 36-year-old back into action, but with Max Fried going on the injured list, there’s cause for urgency in Atlanta.

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Atlanta Braves Cole Hamels Ozzie Albies

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Injury Updates: Hamels, Soler, Rays, Ramirez, Yankees

By Mark Polishuk | September 5, 2020 at 10:20pm CDT

Cole Hamels will throw a live batting practice session on Sunday, as the injury-plagued southpaw might yet still have a chance to factor into the 2020 season.  Braves manager Brian Snitker told MLB.com’s Mark Bowman and other reporters that “We’re just looking to get through a couple live BPs and see how he is,” perhaps wisely not setting even a speculative timeline given that Hamels battled shoulder issues during Spring Training and is currently on the 45-day injured list recovering from left triceps tendinitis.  Bowman speculates that Hamels likely won’t start pitching in simulated games until next weekend at the earliest, so the left-hander might not be able to join the Braves until roughly the last 7-10 days of the regular season.

It makes Hamels into a total wild card for Atlanta’s playoff drive, though with the club looking to have a good shot at the postseason, it isn’t out of the question that Hamels could be part of a playoff roster.  Having a former World Series MVP coming out of the bullpen would be quite an interesting wrinkle for Atlanta, though Hamels has only worked as a reliever twice in his 439 career games in the regular season and postseason.

Some more injury situations from around baseball…

  • Jorge Soler left tonight’s game due to what the Royals described as right oblique soreness.  This is the second time in four days that Soler has exited a game due to such an injury, and perhaps on a related note, Soler is hitless over his last eight plate appearances.  Soler has been a few steps behind his big 2019 numbers this season, though he is still hitting a solid .237/.333/.459 with eight homers over 159 PA.
  • The Rays have been plagued by pitching injuries this season, and two more hurlers ran into potential issues on Saturday.  Newly-acquired southpaw Cody Reed left tonight’s game during the eighth inning with an injury to his pinkie, though manager Kevin Cash told MLB.com’s Jose Toribio (Twitter links) that the problem doesn’t appear to be serious.  The news isn’t as good for left-hander Shane McClanahan, as the prospect will miss around two weeks after suffering a hyper-extended left knee during a fielding play at the Rays’ alternate training site.  The 31st overall pick of the 2018 draft, McClanahan got some top-100 prospect attention from Baseball Prospectus and Baseball American prior to the season, and there was some speculation Tampa Bay might give the 23-year-old his first taste of big league action sometime in September.
  • Marlins outfielder Harold Ramirez had to be carted off the field tonight after suffering what the club described as a left hamstring strain.  Ramirez suffered the injury while trying to beat out a grounder during the fifth inning of Miami’s 7-3 win over Tampa Bay.  Playing in just his third game of the season, Ramirez was only activated off the injured list today, as he was one of the many Marlins players sidelined after positive COVID-19 tests.
  • Yankees manager Aaron Boone provided reporters (including ESPN’s Marly Rivera) with updates on injured sluggers Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge, saying that Judge will increase his baseball-activity work on Monday.  Stanton, who Boone feels is “a little ahead of Judge” in terms of readiness, has already been taking part in baseball activities and is now running at 80 percent as he continues his recovery from a hamstring strain.
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Atlanta Braves Kansas City Royals Miami Marlins New York Yankees Tampa Bay Rays Aaron Judge Cody Reed Cole Hamels Giancarlo Stanton Harold Ramirez Jorge Soler Shane McClanahan

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Braves Recall Chad Sobotka, Option Huascar Ynoa

By TC Zencka | September 5, 2020 at 10:43am CDT

The Atlanta Braves optioned right-hander Huascar Ynoa to their alternate training site after yesterday’s doubleheader. Chad Sobotka has been recalled to take his place on the roster.

This could be a bit of roster management for the Braves, as Ynoa started the second game of yesterday’s doubleheader and Atlanta may simply want a fresh arm for the bullpen. On the other hand, one of the reasons they need a fresh arm is because Ynoa lasted just 2 1/3 innings while giving up 6 earned runs to a last-place Nationals team that was without their MVP Juan Soto. Ynoa has made six appearances for Atlanta this season, three of them starts, but totaling just 11 2/3 innings with a 7.71 ERA/6.39 FIP.

The Braves have faced rotation issues all season, though Max Fried has pitched like a bona fide ace, Ian Anderson is off to a strong start to his major-league career, and veteran Tommy Milone joined the corps before the trade deadline. Josh Tomlin has served as a swingman, but it remains to be seen what the Braves’ long-term plans are for the back two spots in the rotation. Atlanta has many options remaining in their player pool – Kyle Wright, Touki Toussaint, Sean Newcomb, for example – but many of these young arms have struggled to establish themselves as reliable options thus far in 2020.

Sobotka will jump into the bullpen to provide right-handed relief. The 27-year-old has yet to surrender a run in 3 innings so far this season. For his career, Sobotka owns a 4.47 ERA/4.98 FIP in 46 1/3 innings spread across the last three seasons.

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Atlanta Braves Transactions Chad Sobotka Huascar Ynoa

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Braves Release Matt Adams

By Steve Adams | September 3, 2020 at 1:55pm CDT

The Braves announced Thursday that they’ve released veteran first baseman Matt Adams. He was designated for assignment over the weekend when Atlanta acquired left-hander Tommy Milone from the Orioles.

Adams, 32, had a solid showing with the Braves in 2017 but returned with an ugly .184/.216/.347 slash in 51 plate appearances this season. The big slugger has long been a thorn in the side of right-handed pitching and long struggled against lefties. Between that and a defensive profile that limits him to first base (plus the occasional adventure in left field), Adams’ role has been that of a bench player for much of his time in the big leagues. He did provide some pop off the bench for the World Champion Nationals in 2019, slugging 20 big flies, but he also posted a lowly .276 on-base percentage.

Overall, Adams is a career .259/.307/.467 hitter in 2574 trips to the plate. Those numbers improve to .270/.322/.486 when you subtract his 452 unsightly plate appearances against lefties. A team looking for some thump off the bench could certainly pick Adams up and give him a look over the season’s final few weeks.

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Atlanta Braves Transactions Matt Adams

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