Deadline acquisitions Richard Rodriguez and Jorge Soler are in Atlanta and active for tonight’s ballgame, per the team. To make room for their arrival, Orlando Arcia and Sean Newcomb have been optioned to Triple-A.
Arcia came over from the Brewers midseason and had mostly played left field for the Braves — his first outfield appearances in the Majors save for one game in center last season. Arcia doesn’t carry enough bat to hold down the position long-term, however, and the Braves added Soler, Eddie Rosario, and Adam Duvall to go along with Joc Pederson in the outfield corners. Arcia hit just .204/.264/.347 in 53 appearances with the Braves.
Newcomb has been up and down this season. Despite a 5.68 ERA, however, he has a 3.79 FIP in 25 1/3 innings in the Majors with a career-best 27.3 percent strikeout rate and career-worst 17.4 percent walk rate. Because Newcomb has already been optioned this season, he’s an obvious candidate for the demotion here, with only Edgar Santana as the only other real option from the Braves’ veteran bullpen.
Rodriguez saved 14 games for the Pirates this season, but he was acquired to step into a setup role in Atlanta. That’s a role Rodriguez is familiar with, as he had just five career saves coming into this season.
Soler’s usage, too, will be an issue worth monitoring in Atlanta. The slugger doesn’t offer much with the glove and therefore fits awkwardly as an everyday player on a National League club. He has struggled mightily at the plate as well this season, slashing just .192/.288/.370. That said, he is just two years removed from leading the American League with 48 home runs in 2019.
SOLER SZN
Had an OPS+ of 79 coming into today
True, but a pair of two-HR games Sunday and Tuesday against the Tigers and White Sox, so maybe he’s figuring out (though he’s 0-10 since).
I didn’t like the Orlando Arcia trade when it happened and it looks worse now. Hopefully these acquisitions push the Braves over the top. I think Snitker left Touki in too long yesterday. I think if they can keep scoring runs and maybe shuffle some bullpen guys around they have a shot. Maybe give Burrows in AAA a shot.
Somehow both Heredia and Almonte survived the roster moves.
Due time
Due time, just due time.
There is really no reason for them to be cut yet. First, we have the ability to option Newcomb and Arcia and retain them. Don’t believe we can do that with Almonte and Heredia. If we move them, they have to be DFA’d if I’m correct. 2nd, Almonte and heredia are performing a good bit better than Arcia. In fact, Heredia and Almonte actually have roughly league avg OBP or better. That’s valuable for bench pieces compared to Arcia. Now, that said, once Rosario is on the team, if he ever returns, one of them will likely be gone. I’d argue to keep Almonte… but I’m guessing he’ll be first out the door
I don’t mind them being bench pieces. I just didn’t expect both of them to still be there.
Heredia is the best defender for CF
By a wide margin. I’ve seen people suggest Pederson play there but he has long been incapable of doing so. With D’Arnaus due back soon, the Braves have enough bats to play Heredia for his defense and occasional offensive contribution. They are so much deeper than they were 48 hours ago.
*d’Arnaud.
Duvall is the 2nd best defender, When Heredia is not in the game , put Duvall in CF, Soler in LF? Pederson in RF? Bring in Heredia as a late inning defender What do you think?
That wouldn’t be bad, especially if some of those streaky bats are all cooking at once. I’ve seen Joc go on some unreal stretches. Then the Dodgers would face a couple of lefthanders, he would sit, and lose the momentum.
LF may be more difficult than RF at Merged Bank Park. It’s one reason they had RAJ out there instead of in RF n ‘19. Soler has poor range but an arm. My guess is he’ll be subbed for most games after the 6th inning anyway.
Heredia has done a nice job defensively in CF. I like all the options the Braves have in their OF now. Did anyone notice the big smile on Duvall’s face his first game back? The man likes playing for the Braves.
Glad Newcombe & Minter are gone for now. They were painful to watch.
They’re decent players
Probably not for long for those 2 either.
Hi TC,
There’s a spelling error of the word ‘or’ between the word ‘active’ & ‘tonight’. Is it suppose to be ‘active for’ not ‘active or’?
“Deadline acquisitions Richard Rodriguez and Jorge Soler are in Atlanta and ‘active or’ tonight’s ballgame, per the team”. Please & thank you.
The amount of typos in these articles is just staggering. “and Adam Duvall to along with Joc Pederson”. So there’s two typos in this tiny article. It’s like there’s one per paragraph. Does anyone edit these articles???
If it bothers you so much, contact the writer or site in private. You don’t need to call them out in public.
It’s a public site genius. It’s embarrassing to constantly publish articles with so many errors.
So, your answer is to embarrass them? That’s weak. MLB Trade Rumors probably operates on a shoestring budget. Self-editing can be a nightmare, and they don’t have the benefit of copy editors.
By the way, you should have used a comma after “site” and before “genius.” Annoying mistake. Grammatically incorrect.
Cheers to you Cey Hey!!! Love your work here. Big fan since I started reading here!
Embarrass them? Are you serious?You think everyone is as fragile as you. Relax dude. I’m skimming these articles and finding just an insane amount of errors. It’s a terrible look. It takes one proofread to avoid blatant errors. A middle schooler could catch these errors. And the fact that you’re trying to compare my comment in a comment section to an actual article as absolutely hilarious. Did I get paid to make this comment? Go take a lap bud.
“Self editing can be a nightmare”. So please explain how I can find error after error simply by scanning these articles. Again, take a lap bud.
@rols- Articles which you’re scanning for free, so why does it matter? This is one of their busiest times of the year, so they deserve to be allowed a few mistakes. I come here for baseball news. I’m not grading papers.
If it bugs you, I guess it bugs you. Notice how no one else is bothered, though?
I think you figured it out yourself, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out what he meant. You people act like it’s the end of the world. Why you get so worked up about something so small is beyond me!
Obviously I can figure it out. That’s far from the point. Publishing articles with multiple errors is just a brutal look. It takes 30 seconds to proof read these tiny articles. Just shows a complete lack of professionalism and effort to constantly make so many errors. This isn’t a fan blog lol
WGAS
Proofread is one word genius
Who cares? I’m commenting in a comment section, not getting paid to write or edit articles. But nice try!
I found it funny when the Braves and Phillies both bright and wasted prospects to finish behind the Mets this year. Lol
I won’t be too sure that the Braves and Phillies one of them doesn’t catch the Mets. The Mets really I believe messed up getting Bryant for what it would have cost them.
I would be willing to bet that the Mets don’t finish in first. They have a horrible schedule with little to no days off coming up rest of season. The Mets did not look very good against Atlanta last week
As you’re sending Pete Crow-Armstrong off for a rental that won’t make a dent that awful run differential while your best player gets splinters. You don’t need luck.
There are a lot of comments on Mets sites from fans who are ticked off about Crow-Armstrong being dealt. Having absorbed Yordan Alvarez for Josh Fields as a Dodger fan, I didn’t like that one at all. The elite CF glove is apparently already there. Gotta build your team up the middle.
Deep down inside you’re worried about Degrom. Baez isn’t going to move the needle much. The Mets will enter a brutal part of their schedule in a couple of weeks when they play 13 straight games against LA and SF. The Braves improved themselves more than your Mets
Yes I am very worried about Degrom. But not for the division I’m afraid we lose him for the playoffs. We could win the division without him and we will.
Coming soon: a 13-game stretch against the Giants and Dodgers that could be fatal. You might want to ease up on the bold predictions, so you don’t wind up clowning yourself.
Ignorance is truly blissful, I’m jealous…
We will hold our own aginst both teams. They will hardly dominate us.
Your Mets can’t even hold their own against the Reds who aren’t on the same level as the Giants and Dodgers. Your passion for the Mets is up there with the best of them but you’re watching a completely different Mets team than the rest of us are and a lot of your fellow Mets fans would agree with that.
If the Mets drop 11 out of 13 it will be absolutely glorious.
I agree but unfortunately they may be able to drop 11 of 13 and still keep a 1 game lead in the NL East this year. Although I think the Braves improved enough at the deadline to keep their division win streak in tact this year.
I hope the Braves really did improve themselves, because they have 13 games left against the Giants, Dodgers and Padres who at last glance are all a minimum 8 games better than rhe Braves for the wild card spot. So Atlanta better hope to win the division or their players will be hitting the links come October 4th.
After this Brewers series, the Braves’ next 18 games are @St. Louis, Washington, Cincinnati, @Washington, @Miami, @Baltimore. Each is a three-game series. It’s a chance for them to catch and perhaps pass the Mets and Phillies.
Metsfan22 is the perfect parody.
Is a parody a form of clown?
Do you wear those blue and orange tinted glasses at all times, or only when you comment?
Either the Braves or Phillies could easily catch your Mets. Let’s assume they don’t, your team wasted Crowe-Armstrong then to get swept by the Dodgers. Still laughing?
Arcia was playing the most out of position he doesn’t hit well enough to hold down a spot.
Soler is the one that could be crazy good offensive for Atlanta has a lot of power if he got hot he could carry the team for a few weeks
4th round pitching prospect for maybe 4 HR’s, tons of K’s, and bad defense from Jorge Soler
So a cheaper Ozuna without public scorn for a smaller price tag. Seriously though, Soler had 4 HR in 2 games. Sure, he’s struggled this year – as many others have – but he’s been getting hot and a change of scenery could do him wonders. ATL has had their eye on him for years.
Not a bad strategy by the Braves. Pederson, Duvall, Soler, and Rosario are streaky hitters capable of extreme hot steaks. Ride whoever among them catches fire. The rest of the lineup is otherwise in great shape. I’ve got a hunch that Ozzie Albies is about to really go off. Fantastic player.
Newcomb really fell off a cliff, didn’t he?
Yes Nuke did. He had a nice year in 2019 but he’s been quite bad since. I keep hearing he wants to start but his stuff seems more equipped for the bullpen.
I thought 2019 was a nice rebound season for him where he found his niche in the bullpen. He made seven more starts following the 134 pitches he threw in 2018’s near-no-hitter, getting hit hard in five of them. And his pitch counts were generally high that season (12 games of 100-plus).
In 2019, Newcomb made three starts being moved to the bullpen, where he was effective. Maybe it’s a stretch, but I wonder if there’s a lingering health issue due to him being pushed so hard in 2018. Watching him, it seems like he doesn’t trust his stuff. That can be a sign of a pitcher realizing there’s something wrong physically.
He still makes plenty of batters whiff, which is really all a pitcher needs to receive 100 shots at establishing themselves in the majors.
How Newcomb continues to get chances is baffling. He has proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that he doesn’t have it.
Arcia was acquired by the Braves not even a week into the regular season. That’s not exactly a mid-season transaction…
I guess the Braves are not learning from Faulty. Newcomb and Touki need to go.
I’d rather keep Arcia and get rid of Heredia….but it is the Braves.
Heredia can play defense. Arcia isn’t an OF. They’re going to need the late-inning defense if Soler is in the lineup regularly.
They should just cut bait with Newcomb, he’s hot garbage
Newcomb is the kind of guy you trade to PIT, ARZ for fringe prospects that are sons of former major leaguers or Braves front office staff scoring goodwill points. How old’s Adam Laroche’s kid now?
Its nice that the Braves went out and added some offense but I’m surprised they didn’t add a starter as well. Certainly JA Happ or Jon Lester make more sense for a Braves team sitting 4 games out in the NL East than a Cardinals team sitting 9.5 back in the Central
Merrill Kelly, too. He’s pitched 123 innings over 21 starts. A good enough pitcher to win some games with that Braves offense, while also saving wear-and-tear on the bullpen.
I’m surprised the Dbacks did so little. After Escobar and Chafin were traded early, I expected them to be active on Friday. They have quite a few serviceable players but for some reason sat it out. Them and the Rockies. Ugh.
I think a lot of why the Rockies and Diamondbacks did so little was because of the Nationals and Cubs literally getting pennies on the dollar for their players
I thought the Cubs did well on the Baez and Kimbrel returns. Nats got some good value as well. The first step of a rebuild is committing to it. The Rockies and Dbacks seem to be dragging their feet.
I remember how untouchable Arcia was a few years ago.
They want another Bat in the lineup with pop. I’m all for shaking it up. Arcia is not a OF, Almonte and Heredia are replacement players. Both have played and produced at times but i will take former All Stars.
Newcomb wants to start and seems to me he has been pouting for the past 2 plus seasons. Brian Jordan and Paul Byrd were talking about his stuff last night but stuff is talk when you don’t command it.
If he keeps pouting send him off with Folty, and let him get the same treatment.
He could prolong his career by becoming an excellent LHP multi-inning weapon, but he nibbles too much and needs a psychiatrist to get his head on straight
Getting d’Arnaud back will certainly solidify the lineup.
Any chance of seeing Langeliers on the big league club this season?
Vogt and Contreras are still higher in the pecking order I think.