TODAY: The Braves have formally announced the full roster. In addition to the moves previously announced, the club nailed down a few other spots. Darren O’Day and Josh Tomlin got the nod in the bullpen over other options that included Julio Teheran, Anthony Swarzak, Jerry Blevins, Kyle Wright, and Bryse Wilson.
YESTERDAY: Braves manager Brian Snitker announced today that the team has decided not to carry Julio Teheran on its roster for the National League Divisional Series. MLB.com’s Mark Bowman was among those to cover (Twitter links). The action gets underway tomorrow, with the Braves squaring off against the NL Central-champion Cardinals.
The Atlanta organization elected not to carry an extra starter, preferring instead to operate with a deeper bench. Left-handed-hitting outfielder Rafael Ortega got the surprise nod for that spot, with Austin Riley also being left out of the picture. Veteran righty Josh Tomlin nabbed a final bullpen spot.
While the Braves did not formally release a full roster list, we can surmise the remainder of the picture:
Right-handed pitchers
- Mike Foltynewicz (game 2 starter)
- Shane Greene
- Luke Jackson
- Chris Martin
- Mark Melancon
- Mike Soroka (game 3 starter)
- Josh Tomlin
- Darren O’Day
Left-handed pitchers
- Dallas Keuchel (game 1 starter)
- Max Fried
- Sean Newcomb
Catchers
Infielders
Outfielders
Snitker indicated that the team decided to carry an extra bench piece in large part because of the absences of Charlie Culberson, Johan Camargo, and Ender Inciarte, who might’ve been entrusted to broader roles. That pushed Teheran out of the picture, leaving Fried as the fourth starter if one is needed.
There’s clearly a real possibility that Teheran’s last appearance in a Braves uniform was his final one. He could still be called upon if the Braves advance to the NLCS and have slightly different needs. And it’s still plenty possible that the organization will elect to pick up Teheran’s $12MM option for 2020 — even if only to trade him on to another club.
It’s also potentially telling to see Riley left home in favor of Ortega. There’s little question Riley has a future in the organization; the latter was chosen primarily because he’s a left-handed hitter who balances out the options for Snitker. But it’s still notable that Riley wasn’t able to push his way into the postseason plans. It remains to be seen whether the Braves will enter the offseason planning to hand the third base (or a corner outfield) job to Riley for 2020.
I’m surprised neither one of Teheran or Riley made it
Teheran really isn’t that shocking, Riley is
Anyone with a pulse can hit better than Riley can right now. Guy just seemingly hasn’t adjusted to MLB pitching yet.
Not like Ortega has. Which by the way, he’s a guy with a pulse not hitting better than Riley lol
Your name says it all. I can believe it. You are clueless. 18 hr. in 80 games. That’s up there with Freeman and Donaldson in home runs over a full season.
Riley had an 86 wRC+ in 297 PA’s which puts him well below a league average hitter…
wow really? Riley has been atrocious since his hot start, and JT has been a life time brave and despite his ups and downs has pitched just as good if not better than folty and esp Luke Jackson.
If I were the Braves i would have given that roster spot to JT and at least let him be either a long reliever or specialist depending on the game situation.
Something tells me the front office and coaches put some serious thought into this and had good reasons as to why they are fielding the roster that set. It’s always easy to play Monday morning QB. It’s not at all surprising Riley was left off, he’s struggled badly lately and Ortega plays better defense. Tehran is the victim of fifth starter… that’s it. Most teams don’t carry five starters in the post season.
I hope Julio will be back next year. I would miss seeing him with that pantyhose he wears on his head.
I don’t mind Teheran being left off the roster but I don’t like that Ortega is the one taking his spot.
He’s not taking Tehran’s spot. Looks like Tomlin or possibly Luke Jackson took his spot. Ortega likely took what should have been Riley’s spot.
The 2nd paragraph says otherwise.
Are the Braves finally realizing Teheran is terrible? Does this mean they will not pick up his option?
Took them long enough!
A guy that consistently outperforms FiP every year is doing something right.
Yeah. Plays with a good defense behind him.
He can continue to outperform his peripherals next year with another team. Save the money and spend it on TOR pitcher and/or above-average hitters.
Teheran is not bad at all for a #5 starter. Especially when you consider the fact that he leads our team in innings pitched. That’s what most teams look for in a #5 pitcher. They want them to save the bullpen arms for the younger guys. If you find an above average hitter that can slide into an everyday position in our lineup or a top of the rotation pitcher that is willing to sign with the Braves for $11 million total like it will cost to keep Julio then you should give Alex Anthopolous a call. Every GM in the majors is looking for a player like that. I could see maybe picking up the option and trading him but I guarantee that he would get more than the $11 million the Braves will pay him on the open market so it doesn’t really make a ton of sense not to take him at below market prices. At least pick up the option and trade him to whichever team would have signed him anyway. I would definitely rather have him on the NLDS roster over Luke Jackson. I might have taken Riley over Duvall as well.
They’re picking up his option, and they’re keeping him as a contingency plan that they don’t get a better starter.
The rotation is gonna get crowded come March anyways.
Soroka
Fried
Folty
And then You’ve got Wilson (who was looking close), Newcomb, possibly Anderson all as strong possibilities for the 4 and or 5 spots.
Newcomb? Newcomb defines “wild.” He would have trouble getting into AA if he attended their spring training.
not terrible, but indeed mediocre. they have loads more prospects with higher ceilings.
He’s not “terrible” by any means. He has a few bad games a season. DK was pretty similar the last few games of the season, I don’t see you calling him terrible.
I don’t agree with ortega over Riley… not that either is exactly killing it, but Riley gives you a lot more flexibility and has a higher likelihood of changing the game with one swing. Not to mention, what if he gets hot? Boy that would be nice to have in the lineup.
Plus on another note, playoff experience will be very important for him. He’s our future. Even as a bench role, playoff experience matters.
Tehran being left off the roster is his own doing… I’m ok with that…
Agree on every point.
Well stated. It would be one thing if Ortega gave us a defensive boost, or baserunning, or a solid approach at the plate that led to good outs. He does none of those things. In fact, I would argue that it might be better in today’s game to have a true three outcome guy over a weak hitting guy that feeds double plays.
Ortega has a career .570 OPS for crying out loud. Even base-running specialist Hamilton has a .623. Oh yeah, I forgot Ortega is great on D .. so great he has a career negative dWAR.
This is 100% a case of not really looking at numbers. They are keeping Ortega as a leftie bat, but a close look at his splits indicate he is actually WORSE than Riley against RHP. So he doesn’t even give you a benefit in specialized use. Not to mention the fact that Riley can play 3B if needed in addition to OF..
Just a horrible decision.
The front office knows more about this team than you.
The front office honestly watches and engages in the team just the same as a die hard fan would. This is the weakest excuse people always use. The only difference between the front office and big Braves fans is the front office knows what’s being discussed behind closed doors and we simply don’t. Information is so available these days and every game can be watched or listens to from spring training that we literally know a lot of what the front office knows. Not to mention, these kids are being followed by the media when they are mid teens. Riley for example I was following before he was drafted. The information is there, don’t act like just because they are employed by the Braves they simply “know more about this team than us”.
I’m pretty sure Snitker drove these decisions, and he knows a good bit more about the players (and the team’s needs) than even the most die hard fan.
I wouldn’t be surprised of Darren O’Day makes the roster over someone like Swarzak.
I wouldn’t either because I read the article and saw that both aren’t on the roster
Iverbure haha lol. Exactly
Swarzak is in there chief.
It appears you didn’t read very well either
You owe Mr Eagle an apology
Yes, and I had intended to go look more closely at that spot and then forgot to before publishing it. My mistake. It has been edited.
I could see o day getting the nod over swarzak. Swarzak struggles a good part of the second half and o day has that unique delivery which in my mind could be more valuable in my opinion.
Julio is a fairly young, essentially league-average pitcher. He has always out-pitched his peripherals. At $12M, he has value and is paid about what he should be. I expect them to pick up his option.
I think they’ll pick it up, but I hope they trade him. Too many good young starters waiting in the wings. Soroka, Fried, Folty are starters for sure next season. Does Newcomb return to the rotation? Then you have Touki, Wilson, and Wright in the minors with not much left to prove along with Ian Anderson, who is currently the 9th best right handed pitching prospect according to MLB.com.
Swarzak won’t be on the roster – that’s gonna be O’day or Blevins.
Wanna bet?
Ahem
lol
Their pitching isn’t very good, i expect the series to go 3 for sure.
Lol
I suspect the Dodgers choke when it matters, again.
Did you say something? Lolz 0-1 with your best starter going in….
Swarzak are u kidding me? Him and Jackson will cause a heart attack by just seeing them warm up in the pen
I’m ok with Luke he pitched fairly well the last couple times out I think he struck out every hitter he faced, but to carry swarzak over o day is so dumb
Neither one is fit to be pitching at the major league level. Highly, highly unstable.
Should be an interesting series. The Braves have the better team but they are relying on some young arms and a shaky Keuchel.
What a slap in the face. I’d be cussing in both languages to the press if I was him
Shane Greene,Anthony Swarzak, Josh Tomlin, . and Rafael Ortega will all be less useful in the NLDS than Teheran would have been.
Shane Greene is much more valuable than Teheran
I agree. Slap in the face. Not really a Braves fan or a Teheran fan. But you’re gonna trust Folty and Newcomb more than a veteran (and a Braves staple)with 10 wins and an era under 4.oo? That’s cold!
Teheran has always had two modes: either he’s in full meltdown, putting guys on base like it’s Christmas, or he’s pitching his next no hitter. There is no in between with him. And there is no accounting for when or why he’s going to shift gears again. It’s completely random. That translates to “massive unreliability.” He CAN be great but on which starts will that happen? Roll the dice.
Last few starts have been pretty awful. I feel for Julio but if I understand and support the move.
Riley may yet adjust and become a quality ML player, but leaving him off the playoff roster this year was the correct choice. He’s struck out in almost 1/3 of his ABs, and really just hasn’t adjusted to the way he’s been pitched once other clubs formed a little bit of a book on him. It’s safe to say he’d probably only do worse against some consistently high level pitching you’re going to mostly see in the playoffs. And what good is all of that power if he can’t put the barrel on the baseball?
I would agree .. except that no matter how you slice it he is a better option than Ortega. Just look at the numbers. And he can play 3B if something were to happen to Donaldson, leaving Hechy as a utility guy.
Teheran is so inconsistent, you can’t trust the guy in the playoffs. Over the course of a season, yea he’s decent enough, but are you going to trust him coming out of relief in a tight spot?
I’d rather have Riley than Ortega. Yes, Riley is struggling big time, but Ortega is probably the last man off your bench. I’d rather have a power option like Riley than Ortega as my 25th man. You already have Hamilton as a defensive replacement in the outfield and your speed guy and you’re carrying three catchers so you can you use one as a pinch hitter. Ortega might not even play in the series.
I sorta liked the grand slam he hit in a clutch situation.
Julio being left off doesn’t surprise me. He’s too inconsistent. I guess the thought process for Ortega is he’s better defensively in the outfield?
Actually, he is not. Sadly.
Ortega lol
3 catchers ?
most teams do it due to constant switching out of pitchers and lineup changes. Braves are at least in a good position as each if their three catchers are solid hitters.
I thought it was a waste of a spot as well but what you’re saying makes sense.
yeah, i was not a fan of the idea either until i heard the rationale.
I don’t know what you mean by “most teams do it” most teams don’t do it. That’s the rationale for the teams that do it. The Dbacks are really the only team that consistently does it.
Braves catchers are hit by pitches more often than Babe Ruth struck out. It’s a standing joke in Atlanta. They always, ALWAYS nail the Braves catchers. Other guys get hit but NOT the way Braves catchers do. There is a method to the madness.
Flowers is just too slow to get out of the way. Not to mention that his forearms are so calcified from bone bruises on previous HBP’s that he doesn’t feel anything. He is sort of like a petrified tree at the plate when it comes to HBP’s.
just a brewer fan wandering around looking for a way to ease this pain…
It’s 4 and a half months until the new season. Two days after the World Series, nobody cares who won except the team who won. Everybody else is looking ahead, and if you’ve seen the list of guys going free agent this year, you’d be looking for some massive shifting around of talent among every team in baseball. I’m desperate to see who ends up where. I think the Machado, Harper, and Trout deals are a thing of the past. Nobody feels like they got anywhere near their money’s worth and I don’t think you’re going to see offers of that caliber again.
After my brewers took a fat L yesterday, i am officially on the Braves bandwagon. LETS GO ATL! Win the whole damn thing
That was a terrible loss, hader pitches terrible but the HBP not being over turned and the bone headed play in right were the difference. The brewers played the better game and lost just like Georgia does to Alabama the past 2 years
I personally can’t wait for an automated ball/strike system to be in place. Obviously that won’t cover HBP but in a general sense those umpires are out of control. They are sub human and as such they cannot resist swaying the game toward whatever team they like. Worse, they are prima donnas. To reign them in on ball/strike stuff would be awesome.
What does this have to do with the game?
The game is officiated by umpires. They’re the guys in the black shirts and pants who act as referees while the game is being played.
They made the correct call on the hbp. And had they initially called it a foul, it wouldn’t have been overturned either. It literally hit at the exact same time…
I was pulling for you guys too. Wanted a Brewers/Braves NLCS. Present vs Past.
Riley has been effectively useless at the plate since his initial MLB streak ended. He got a homer here and there but has been hitting as close to .000 as anybody would want to hit for months.
Keuchel is a guaranteed game 1 loss. End of story. Watch the game – or don’t. It was the stupidest decision ever made. The guy cannot pitch and he doesn’t even think anything is wrong, apparently. Julio would have been equally bad. Everybody thinks that all you have to do is have prior postseason experience pitching and you’ll automatically be better than everybody else. They’re about to discover the hard way that prior post season experience is about 1% of the winning formula. Stupid is as stupid does: Keuchel will start, and the Braves will lose game 1. Unless by some miracle the offense actually kicks into gear, which is not something one holds their breath waiting for. It’s been a very solid pattern all year: the farther the Braves fall behind, the more their offense goes silent. 1 or 2 exceptions does not make a pattern.
I’m surprised so many people are ok with Teheran being left off.
That’s completely ridiculous
I get it. He was pegged an ace and some of you are mad he’s been closer to mediocre.
But any of you who think Tomlin is better than Teheran has lost their mind.
Teheran has never been a bad pitcher, he just never lived up to what we all hoped. There’s a difference. He did not deserve this
You can easily argue he deserves to start Game 4 over Fried… let alone straight up cutting him from the roster.
I’m certainly not an authority, but I don’t think Teheran was left off just to make room for Tomlin. I think he was left off because of his wild performance fluctuations. Tomlin was then added just to keep the roster at 25 guys.
So we have a starter with an ERA of 3.81 (Teheran), who would have been used as a reliever, or we can put in a RELIEVER with an ERA of 3.74. Hmm.
And lets be honest, the only way Tomlin (or Teheran for that matter) is pitching is in a long extra inning game, because of an injury, or a huge blow out. The same would’ve gone for Teheran and I’d rather put in the guy who has actually pitched out of the bullpen all season.
Teheran also had a 6.56 ERA in his last five starts.
That’s the key … what has he done LATELY? The current wave he’s riding is a lot more meaningful than what he did way back in May. And in that department, it’s 6 of Teheran, half dozen of Keuchel (who I thought has ALWAYS sucked and just squeaked by on blind luck).
And what has Max Fried done lately?
4.81 ERA since August 18th
Teheran 4.21 since August 21st
Some of you are clearly being more harsh on Teheran just because you’re unhappy with his inability to be the ace you thought he would be.
Try being unbiased for about 5 seconds and you can easily see he has an argument to start over Fried, and for sure should at least be on over Tomlin.
It’s sad some of you let your emotions cloud your judgment so poorly.
Still need Fried as lefty specialist, so he stays on the roster.
I somewhat get the Teheran over Tomlin argument, as Tomlin’s ERA is artificially low from being a reliever and rarely going through the lineup more than once. However, you have to also realize that Teheran has not pitched in relief much in his life and he could totally implode. Tomlin is a safer bet, which is not saying much.
Honestly, I would probably have preferred O’Day and Blevins over Tomlin and Swarzak for matchup reasons, but it looks like Snitker is going to go with short starts and doesn’t want to carry one batter pitchers.
Fried is the better pitcher with the better stuff, is a lefty, and has experience pitching out of the pen
This is confusing. Exactly how do you KNOW that some people are “unhappy with his inability to be the ace we thought he would be?” How do you know what so many people thought he would be? And based on something that is 100% invented in your mind, you proceed to make the ultimate declaration of stupidity about so many others posting here. Given that nobody running the Braves is looking to any of us for advice, we can assume that all we have are personal opinions. It is not sad when somebody views things differently than you. It’s sad when you can’t tolerate that.
You do know relieving is easier than starting
So a guy who clearly is still talented enough to hold his own as a starter (Teheran) or a former starter who couldn’t hack it and got pushed to long relief (Tomlin)
Yeah you keep telling yourself Tomlin is the right move… lol
You do realize that relieving is different than starting and that a career long starter may not be effective in relief in the playoffs.
Yea, keep telling yourself you actually know anything. Clueless.
The games have not been played yet. We have no idea how much of anything we believe holds any validity whatsoever. We have guessing and speculation and the most dangerous thing of all: logic.
Dallas Keuchel is no better than Julio Tehran but, Anthony Swarzak is ATL’s worst pitcher on this roster.
ATL is hoping for the player Rafael Ortega was in MiLB. He’s a LH hitter with some power; he can run and plays good defense.
Hmm. We could debate this. I think Luke Jackson has Swarzak beat for terrible-ness (by a good margin) but then neither one belongs anywhere higher than AA.
To be clear, they have not announced that. I should’ve hedged that spot much more than I did in the original post, but I must’ve been distracted in the course of compiling a likely roster. I’ve edited it now.
Austin Riley is the Braves version of Ian Happ.
Young, talented, tons of power…. can’t not strike out 30% of the time.
Gotta feel for Julio here. Lots of good years in that Braves rotation but he’s just not one of their top 4 starters right now, and as a streaky guy on a cold streak I think he’s a wise omission. I wonder if the Yankees might give CC the same treatment.
Riley should get the spot over ortega. Riley can play right field, left field 3rd base and what seems to be forgotten 1st base, God forbid Freddy’s elbow goes down, do we want cervelli ?
Freddie
Sorry, I stand corrected Freddie.
It’s all good Ace!
“ it’s still plenty possible that the organization will elect to pick up Teheran’s $12MM option for 2020 — even if only to trade him on to another club.”
I’m not a Teheran fan, but this seems like a no-brainer. He is a 2-ish WAR pitcher(greatly depends on which WAR you use. More importantly he is 28 years old with a fantastic track record of health(never pitched under 175 innings). In today’s market $12M gets you what? A lottery ticket starter with a pulse? A platoon bat? A mediocre reliever?
At that price, you get a solid back of the rotation starter and innings eater who sometimes flashes something more. That has a significant value on a team with a young volatile rotation, especially given Teheran grew up with the Braves and suffered the LOL BARVES days.
I like the word “volatile.” Very accurate.
He isn’t exactly the greatest in his limited exposure to the playoffs.
That’s kind of a kick in the nads.
This was a very misleading article. They surmised the roster based off what yesterday? Then acted like when they got it wrong that everything went as expected. Nobody watching thought Swarzak was making it
Yeah I was skeptical when I saw Swarzak.
Swarzak is a proven disaster. If he pitches, he’s giving up runs. That’s his way.
I said before the season when everyone was down on ATL they would win the division by 10 games. That was well in hand until injuries and fatigue set in. After the finish to the season it doesnt matter who is on the roster or not STL will win in 4 games. ATL peaked a month early and will be embarrassed once again on the big stage. Braves fans might as well get ready for next year. Atleast football season will be fun in Georgia until November.
Let me get the powerball numbers, Nostradamus
11 17 23 48 56 05* lmao
If for some reason someone actually plays those numbers let it be known I am no way affiliated with powerball just some guy on Break on Houston that was bored.
This could very well be the case. IMHO Atlanta peaked in June and has never been that good since. They’ve been weak and unreliable. Yes, they won enough games, but it was almost accidental. All their best hitters decayed, all their pitching decayed, and to close out the season being swept by the Mets of all teams … I think that says it all. They are lacking in leadership. They are not motivated. The talent is there but their current leadership just isn’t bringing it out of them. If this team was playing at its potential it should have easily finished the season with a .750 win %. They eternally get shut out by every podunk pitcher with an 11.25 ERA. It’s a really screwy dynamic – they just shut down on every level and decide they’re just not going to show up and play today. The misery will start to be over tonight when Keuchel embarrasses himself, the team, and they city of Atlanta.
Just because Bama can’t beat Clemson doesn’t mean the Braves won’t beat St. Louis. Braves in 4
“Anthony Swarzak, Jerry Blevins, Kyle Wright, and Bryse Wilson.”
Excellent. I didn’t want to see any of those guys in a post season game.
I’m certainly not the biggest believer in WAR, and even if I were it’s not the end all be all by any means, but Teheran has the 3rd highest on the team among pitchers and slightly higher than Keuchel’s (though he had quite a bit more time to rack it up). I find it hard to believe all of those guys deserve a spot over him.
Have you seen Teheran pitch the last month and a half?
Huge management error. Braves do not win division without Teheran or Riley. Riley is currently hitting as good as Freeman. Teheran was the team leader throughout the season. Shame on Braves-will probably result in three losses.
Poor old Patrick Weigel…I guess I had an unreasonable hope that he would make it.