The Phillies announced this morning that left-hander Jose Alvarado has been placed on the 15-day injured list (retroactive to July 7) with inflammation in his left elbow. When healthy, Alvarado has been excellent with a 1.38 ERA and 2.33 FIP in 26 innings of work this season. With Alvarado joining right-hander Seranthony Dominguez on the IL, Gregory Soto, Matt Strahm, and Jeff Hoffman appear to be the top set-up options for closer Craig Kimbrel.
It’s unclear exactly how long Alvarado is expected to be out, but this is his second IL stint for the issue this season; Alvarado previously went on the shelf in early May for left elbow inflammation and missed a month before returning in early June. That being said, the Phillies are surely hoping for improved health from Alvarado going forward. The club signed Alvarado to an extension back in February that guarantees him a salary of just over $9MM in both 2024 and 2025. Given that, it’s of little surprise that Matt Gelb of The Athletic indicates Philadelphia is going to “take their time” regarding Alvarado’s injury.
More from around the NL East…
- Braves fans will surely be encouraged to learn that lefty Max Fried is poised to take the ball for Triple-A Gwinnett, per an announcement by the Stripers. Fried has been on the injured list since early May due to a forearm strain. The ace’s return would serve to further bolster a Braves club that has emerged as a juggernaut in recent weeks, with a 26-5 record since the beginning of June that has catapulted them to an MLB-best 60-28 record. They’ve done all that without both Fried and right-hander Kyle Wright, relying on a rotation of Spencer Strider, Charlie Morton, and Bryce Elder with the likes of Jared Shuster, AJ Smith-Shawver, Michael Soroka, Dylan Dodd, and Kolby Allard combining to handle the last two spots.
- Sticking with the Braves, left-hander A.J. Minter exited yesterday’s game with left pectoral tightness but woke up feeling good today, as relayed by David O’Brien of The Athletic. It’s been a strange season for Minter, as the lefty has struggled to a 4.91 ERA in 40 1/3 innings of work despite sterling peripherals, including a 2.84 FIP. That being said, Minter’s ugly ERA figure is inflated by an extremely low 57.3% strand rate and has been dropping rapidly in recent weeks, as the lefty has posted a 1.56 ERA in his last 20 appearances. As he’s settled back in as a top set up option for closer Raisel Iglesias, it’s surely a relief to Braves fans that Minter seems unlikely to miss time beyond today’s game.
I hope Fried’s rehab goes well.
It was good. 2 innings with a couple of walks and a hit. Was throwing up to 96mph
It was 1+ with a 35 pitch hard stop.
I know I’m preaching to the choir, but the Atlanta Braves are most likely MLB’s best run team.
couple of comments to this if you are talkin about best run teams.
(pains me to say this but) Name me the franchise worth the most and name me a franchise with the most consecutive winning seasons. Love em or hate em the Yankees put a winning product on the field and make the most money of any team in baseball.
Tampa Rays have been a top team in one of the toughest division with what a bottom 5 maybe even lower payroll for how long against 2 of the biggest spenders for years (Yankees and Red sox)? Thats with everyone constantly pulling away their top executives year after year. Imagine if they could even get to a league average payroll and kept guys like a charlie morton or kevin kiermaier
Dodgers i cant remember the last time they had a losing season either and not been a top contender for the world series even with the crazy amount of injuries they have had. Even with the promotions of young people they still have quite a few good propects in the pipeline.
Not saying the Braves are badly run organization, but they have been fortunate enough to have a lot of prospects hit at the same time to give them a nice run ala the yankees when jeter, pettite, posada, mariano, etc etc came up. Will there long term signings work out or will they end up with duds who knows but it will be interesting to see how it plays out because they are pretty much locked into this team for many many seasons.
Yankees are lucky to be in New York. It’s hard not to make money there. George S. Was willing and able to buy his way out of mistakes. LA has had the same advantages. I’m most impressed with Tampa.
The Yankees are worth so much because they are the majority owner of the TV channel that carry’s their games. They also conveniently happen to be in the largest TV market in the country.
You can make the same argument with atlanta now that they have been moving up in markets.
if you want to talk about about winning in LA or NY … just look at the clippers and knicks and islanders or the nets or even the mets for how many years with the wilpons. I was going to include the jets but technically they are more nj than ny. Just because you have money doesnt always equal success.
Your first sentence was in reference to the Yankees “being worth the most.” I noted they own their own television channel.
Beyond that, everything else you’re saying is, I don’t even know. Carry on though!
Yes, even as a Braves fan, I have to give the crown to Tampa Bay. The Rays are the best ran organization in terms of an on the field product vs. cost.
Even so, their one glaring issue is off the field, or the field itself, and that’s due to the location of their stadium. For as well as they are ran in terms of baseball operations, there is no excuse why their attendance is so low, yet they’ve done nothing about it.
If you’re a top tier team in baseball, and you have to call 20K a sell out, and then cover a bunch of seats with tarps, that’s embarassing!!!
They need to locate to an area that fans will appreciate them more and drive to see them. Right now, their stadium and attendance situation is clearly the absolute WORST in baseball.
The Braves didn’t have to extend all their guys like they have. Most of those guys would be on minimums or in arbitration. They spent money now to save money later. It’s not an apples to apples comparison. You saw Tampa (Wander Franco) and a bunch of other teams started copying what the Braves were doing. Also, the Braves are willing to trade away their prospects for useful now players – they also don’t spend a lot on free agents. The Braves also consistently do well in the draft.
Doesn’t matter one way or the other as every team is a unique situation and there’s no way to define what “best run” even means.
So you think that all of the prospects they have had are due to luck? Idiot.
So how long will it take for the comment to be correct? 50 years?
Dodgers are the best run and until the Braves can topple them they will not be the best. They have maintained as arguably the top team in the NL for what a decade. They have not missed a playoff in 10 years with most of those ending in the championship or world series. They still doing well despite losing multiple of theit top pitchers for lengthy times (Buehler, May, Pepiot and i believe the guy they got to be their closer dont remember his name) .
Every year they replace top talent by trading, signing free agents, or filling in with their top prospectst. This is also with a trimmed payroll to get under the cap as to make a push for i dont think you can argue the best player in ohtani this offseason. Heck they turned around both Pujols and so far Heward. That really shows something i think.
The braves have been doing well at this same philosophy and i even said it in my post that they are well run but to say BEST you have to be the actual best and beat the best and the braves have yet to do that. Maybe they can when Kershaw retires because i think he is the cog that really drives this team and pushes them but as of right now the braves are not the best.
If you want to say they can escape mistakes with dollars that is valid but so can the braves to an extent. If you are doing dollar for dollar then the rays have no out whatsoever because they operate at what 1/4 or 1/3 the payroll the braves do yet consistently in the playoffs. Imagine if the Rays had to eat Ozuna’s contract at their payroll levels. They would have to cut probably half the team.
Good god dude. Do you even read the comments you reply too?
why yes i do …not sure if you noticed others replied in the thread and not just you. Sorry this site doesnt line up all the replies with the comment i responded to
there is a bham I responded to about saying it was a ny market and anyone can do it where i pointed out many NY and LA teams that couldnt do much with the dollars
there is a braves66 i responded to asking about how long for it to be correct and i said until they take down the dodgers and/or rays depending on if you are doing overall or dollar to dollar.
this world isnt just about you spanky
also yes its a good strategy to lock up young potential cornerstones pre-arbitration players to long term contracts together …. if only someone would have thought this a few years ago … i mean a team would never do something like that and sign guys like Matt Moore, Evan Longoria, and Chris Archer all together pre-arbitration … no no they would never do that. Completely original of the Braves to come up with that thought and trend.
Guess another point for the Rays as best run organization? They do the same trades, same low cost signings even cheaper, and even less money in total. They also play against the biggest spenders in baseball. Everyone is hesitant with trading with the rays because they usually end up on the better end. They really need to get out of Tampa or atleast get some money pumped into them.
Wow.
“ BEST you have to be the actual best and beat the best and the braves have yet to do that. ”
So I guess 2021 was just a mirage.
I mean, the entirety of what my point to it was there’s no way to define what “best” even means. It’s cycled through the Yankees being the best, then the Dodgers, and now it’s claiming Tampa is the champion of the arbitrary “best” in all of MLB.
This whole thing is my fault and I should know better to respond to entirely dumb posts.
Are you dumb or just plain stupid? The Braves have toppled the Dodgers, they did it back in 2021, you know, the year they won the World Series.
are you really seriously saying one series defines toppling a team? so can i say that oakland has toppled the braves since they won their series against them this year? or how about the phillies have toppled the braves since they beat them in the playoffs last year? One series is one hot streak aka eddie rosario carried the team … cmon even you cant be that dumb.
for fun lets see the last few years of braves “toppling” the dodgers
2023: 2-1 dodgers winning only series so far which was in atlanta
2022: 4-2 with dodgers winning both series
2021: 4-2 for dodgers and yes they lost the division but even with those wins and losses the dodgers it would have been even
2020 playoffs dodgers beat the braves (argue covid but was level playing field and they beat them in the playoffs which were the same # of games)
2019 4-2 for dodgers
2018 5-2 for dodgers and beat the braves in the playoffs.
i can keep going if you want .. personally i thought they would have had 1 winning season against them in a decade (most likely 21) but they havent. you can keep going to 2013 when they finally had one if you want.
Dude, it was THE SERIES. Braves won it all in 21, advancing past the Dodgers, what don’t you get?
Roll, you’re probably the only person in the world who thinks like you do. Ask the Dodgers players and management who the best team is, and they will all tell you it’s the Braves.
What a kook.
Could it be that Minter’s recent success is due to the fact that he has been used in lower leverage situations?
No
Minter has never been able to handle the closer spot; which he was forced to handle early in season. At least twice when closer has has come apart as a pitcher. I hope Atlanta picks up another big relief arm for the post season run
notagain27,
Here, read this:
batterypower.com/platform/amp/23721871/atlanta-bra…
Got to stay positive if you want to succeed. I think Snitker changed his role so the kid could regain his confidence. That’s what good manager’s do.
No
George understood the cost of winning and the expectations of instant gratification. There is zero chance that if he were still alive and running the Yankees that he would stand for the Yankees longest World Series appearance drought since the 14 year stretch of 1982-1995