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Austin Riley, Darren O’Day Start Rehab Assignments

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Braves outfielder/third baseman Austin Riley and reliever Darren O’Day started rehab assignments Friday, the team announced. Riley’s playing at the Single-A level, while O’Day is beginning at the rookie level.

The rookie Riley has been on the injured list since Aug. 8 with a sprained knee. The 22-year-old had been in the midst of a cold stretch before hitting the shelf, but he has still given the Braves decent overall production this season. Riley has slashed .242/.294/.504 with 17 home runs and a .263 ISO in 255 plate appearances on the offensive side, and has chipped in 4 Defensive Runs Saved and a 3.8 Ultimate Zone Rating as a left fielder. His absence, not to mention those of fellow injured outfielders Nick Markakis and Ender Inciarte, has weakened the Braves’ depth in the grass. Still, the team has won five in a row and continues to hold a comfortable lead of 5 1/2 games in the National League East.

The Braves’ success this year has come in spite of a maligned bullpen – one that hasn’t gotten a single out from O’Day. The longtime Oriole still hasn’t thrown a pitch for the Braves since they acquired him from the O’s (in a deal centering on the now-gone Kevin Gausman) at the July 2018 trade deadline. O’Day, who was included in the swap for financial purposes, was dealing with a hamstring injury at the time, but a forearm strain has kept him off a major league mound this season.

The 36-year-old O’Day did quality work for Baltimore over 20 innings in 2018, continuing a rather effective career that began in 2008 with the Angels. To this point, O’Day has amassed 555 frames of 2.56 ERA/3.47 FIP ball with 9.28 K/9 and 2.46 BB/9. He’s on a $9MM salary this year, the last season of his contract.

Braves Reportedly Expected To Sign Francisco Cervelli

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Just-released Pirates backstop Francisco Cervelli evidently won’t spend much time on the open market. He is slated to ink a deal with the Braves, according to Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (via Twitter). Whether it’s of the major or minor-league variety isn’t known.

Cervelli still must clear release waivers before he’ll be able to sign a new deal. But that’s really just a formality, given that he’s still owed the balance of his $11.5MM salary — about $2.4MM. The Braves will only owe him the league minimum rate for any time spent on the MLB roster, with the Bucs paying the rest.

While it seemed at one point earlier this year that Cervelli would not attempt to return to catching duties, he emphatically quashed that concept and has donned the mask on a rehab assignment. Now, he’ll help the Braves cover for the recent loss of Brian McCann. Whether Cervelli will immediately join Tyler Flowers on the MLB roster isn’t known. It’s also possible that the club will tap John Ryan Murphy for that job and then bring up Cervelli once rosters expand.

Cervelli has hit well on his recent rehab stint, but that’s a limited sample against minor-league pitching. He was far from his peak form to begin the season, turning in 123 plate appearances of .193/.279/.248 hitting before he hit the injured list. With a rising chase rate and swinging-strike rate, declining average exit velocity, and worsening strikeout-to-walk numbers (25.2% K vs. 7.3% BB), the poor output was well-deserved.

The Braves will have to hope there’s more left in the tank. Cervelli has been a solid-two-way catcher for quite some time. Just last year, he was able to turn in a healthy .259/.378/.431 slash line with a dozen home runs. Regardless of the outlook with the bat in hand, the Atlanta organization is obviously interested in adding some veteran depth behind the dish. Better options aren’t likely to present themselves over the next week — after which time it will not be possible to acquire a postseason-eligible player. By picking up Cervelli, the club will add another layer of protection in the event that McCann is slow to return.

Dansby Swanson, Austin Riley To Begin Rehab Assignments

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  • A pair of young Braves regulars are slated to begin rehab assignments in the coming days, per Mark Bowman of MLB.com. Shortstop Dansby Swanson will join the Class-A Rome Braves on Thursday for a rehab stint, with rookie slugger Austin Riley joining him the following day. Swanson has been out since late July with a heel issue, while Riley has missed about two weeks with a partially torn right LCL. While the Braves have found capable replacements for both young stars and has gotten by without the pair, the club would no doubt welcome Swanson and Riley back to the lineup as soon as possible. Swanson has put together his best offensive season, while Riley has gotten his career off to a blistering start, slugging 17 home runs in just 66 Major League games.

Braves Place Brian McCann On 10-Day Injured List

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The Braves have placed catcher Brian McCann on the 10-day injured list due to a left knee sprain, the team announced.  Alex Jackson has been called up from Triple-A to take McCann’s roster spot.

The injury occurred in last night’s 5-1 win over the Marlins, as McCann left the game after the third inning.  The injury isn’t considered to be overly serious, as MLB.com’s Mark Bowman tweets that the Braves hope McCann is out for “just a couple of weeks.”  McCann missed time due to arthroscopic knee surgery last season, though that procedure was on his right knee, rather than his left.

While McCann may not be out for too long, his absence comes at a time when Atlanta is missing a worryingly large number of position players.  Dansby Swanson, Nick Markakis, Ender Inciarte, and Austin Riley are all on the IL, with only Swanson and Riley potentially able to return before the end of August.  The Braves have the cushion of a six-game lead over Washington in the NL East, though 23 of their remaining games are against the Nationals, Mets, Phillies, and Giants, all of whom are still vying for the NL wild card.

McCann has hit .264/.336/.423 with 10 home runs over 274 PA with the Braves this season, delivering a solid bounce-back performance after last year’s injury-shortened campaign with the Astros.  McCann’s offense has helped balance out a down year at the plate for Tyler Flowers, who has only a .696 OPS this season after hitting .261/.360/.411 over his first three seasons (330 PA) in Atlanta.

A right hamstring strain briefly sidelined McCann back in April, opening the door for Jackson to make his Major League debut in the form of three games for the Braves.  Jackson was the sixth overall pick of the 2014 draft, though after his career was seemingly stalling out as an outfielder in the Mariners’ farm system, he converted to catcher after joining the Braves’ organization prior to the 2017 season.  Jackson will serve as Flowers’ backup until McCann is back in action.

Brian McCann Leaves Game Due To Knee Soreness

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Brian McCann left Tuesday’s game with what the Braves described as left knee soreness.  The veteran catcher was set to undergo tests today, and manager Brian Snitker indicated to reporters (including Tim Tucker of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution) that he didn’t yet know if McCann would need to be moved to the injured list.  Alex Jackson is most obvious candidate to be called up from the minors to back up Tyler Flowers if McCann does require an IL stint, though Atlanta also picked up John Ryan Murphy in a trade deadline swap with the Diamondbacks.  Calling up Murphy would require the Braves to make room on the 40-man roster, however.  McCann has hit .264/.336/.423 with 10 homers over 274 plate appearances this season (while also posting some above-average framing numbers), giving the Braves some extra pop from the catcher position as Flowers has had a down year at the plate.

Braves Place Jacob Webb On 60-Day IL

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The Braves recalled right-handed reliever Jacob Webb from Triple-A Gwinnett on Monday and placed him on the 60-day injured list with an elbow impingement, David O’Brien of The Athletic tweets. The move opened up 40-man space for outfielder Billy Hamilton, whom the Braves claimed off waivers from the Royals.

This will be a season-ending development for Webb, whose elbow problems have helped prevent him from pitching in the majors since July 12. He had been in the minors over the past couple weeks after coming off the 10-day IL on Aug. 4. The 26-year-old will wrap up his rookie campaign having pitched to a measly 1.39 ERA over 32 1/3 innings. Of course, ERA indicators FIP (4.31), xFIP (5.14) and SIERA (4.54) weren’t nearly as bullish on Webb’s work, while his strikeout, walk and groundball rates (7.79 K/9, 3.34 BB/9, 38.2 GB%) also suggest he’d have had a difficult time upholding his great ERA had he stayed healthy.

In fairness to Webb, he doesn’t simply look like a case of smoke and mirrors. The hard thrower logged a strong 17.5 percent infield fly rate before hitting the IL last month and also emerged as a Statcast favorite. Webb’s fastball velocity (95.1 mph; 81st percentile) and spin rate (88th percentile) have been among the most impressive in the game in 2019, which is also true of his expected weighted on-base average (.287) and real wOBA against (.281).

It’s debatable how much good fortune factored into Webb’s success this year, but what’s clear is that he has been one of the few Atlanta relievers to post overwhelmingly positive results in the run prevention category. Webb is far and away No. 1 in ERA among all regular Braves bullpen arms, so it’s a letdown for the NL East leaders to lose a promising young hurler in what has been a trying season for their relief corps.

Braves Claim Billy Hamilton

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The Braves have claimed outfielder Billy Hamilton off waivers from the Royals, per a club announcement. The Atlanta organization will be responsible for the remainder of Hamilton’s $4.25MM salary along with a $1MM buyout on a mutual option.

It’s a fairly significant price to pay, but understandable under the circumstances. The Braves have lost their two best left-handed-hitting outfield options, Nick Markakis and Ender Inciarte, to injuries that may not heal by the end of the season. Lacking the ability to strike a trade for a MLB contract, the club had limited avenues for acquiring a replacement. The

As we noted when Inciarte’s injury arose, Hamilton is in the same general sub-category of player. Both are speedy, defensive-oriented center fielders who hit from the left side. If Inciarte is something of an archetype, Hamilton is an extreme version of the class. Hamilton has been an exceedingly valuable fielder and baserunner, though he has minimal power and has rarely reached base at palatable rates.

This year, Hamilton’s bat has sunk even further. At the time of his departure from the K.C. roster, he had produced 305 plate appearances of 44 wRC+ output. He’s still valued as an excellent defender and baserunner, though there has been a bit of erosion in Hamilton’s most notable physical skill. By measure of Statcast, his sprint speed has fallen from a 99+ percentile placement in recent years to the 97.5th percentile this season.

While Hamilton hasn’t been at his best in 2019, he ought to help shore things up down the stretch. And he’s a fascinating postseason roster piece as a potential late-inning pinch runner and/or defensive replacement. That’s arguably worth a premium to a team that’s all but assured of a postseason appearance. As we discussed in profiling some August waiver claim candidates, the Braves can perhaps afford to splurge on a needed addition given that they were bailed out of the remainder of their obligations to Kevin Gausman.

Rockies Claim Wes Parsons

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The Rockies announced that they’ve claimed right-handed reliever Wes Parsons off waivers from the Braves, who had designated him for assignment over the weekend. In order to make room on the 40-man roster, the Rox moved Scott Oberg from the 10-day IL to the 60-day IL, definitively ending his season. Oberg went on the IL over the weekend due to a blood clot.

With an immediate need for fresh arms and a longer-term interest in finding cost-efficient relief pitching, it’s no surprise that the Rox made a strike here. Parsons hasn’t quite reached his 27th birthday, has options remaining, and is still a long way from arbitration. It’s possible he’ll be given a chance to pitch his way into the team’s plans for 2020.

If he’s to take advantage of the opportunity, Parsons will need to improve upon his initial showing in Atlanta. He carried a 3.52 ERA through 15 1/3 MLB innings this year, but didn’t get there in style. With 13 walks to go with a dozen strikeouts, along with a lowly 6.9% swinging-strike rate, it was clear that Parsons wasn’t fooling MLB hitters.

That said, there’s still reason to hope for better. Parsons has a history of quality results in the upper minors; this year, at Triple-A, he worked to a 2.86 ERA with 8.6 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9 along with a 56.8% groundball rate. No doubt the Rox are particularly intrigued by the fact that Parsons has typically induced quite a few worm burners and limited the long ball as a minor-leaguer.

Swanson Ramping Up Baseball Activities

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  • Though the Braves lost Ender Inciarte to injury this weekend, it’s not all doom and gloom out of the Big Peach–as noted in an article from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Gabriel Burns, sturdy shortstop performer Dansby Swanson is ramping up baseball activities. The 25-year-old infielder has missed 22 games this year due to an incidental heel injury but was seen taking ground balls before Saturday’s game. Before being hurt, Swanson was putting together his most complete full-season at the plate, with 17 home runs and a 102 wRC+ in 100 games. His injury was partly responsible for the team’s signing of defensive specialist Adeiny Hechavarria, but the team would eagerly clear a place for Swanson at the team table if he were able to return by late August as currently expected. Atlanta holds a 4.5 game lead in the race for the NL East pennant.

Ender Inciarte Placed On Injured List

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Following a string of earlier reports regarding the hamstring injury sustained by Braves outfielder Ender Inciarte yesterday, the team has officially placed him on the 10-day injured list. Gabriel Burns of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution shares that Inciarte is expected to be out 4-6 weeks after an MRI scan revealed a strain of the Grade 2 variety (link). Outfielder Adam Duvall has been recalled from Triple-A Gwinnett to take Inciarte’s place on the active roster.

2019 has been a hard-luck season for Inciarte so far: it was just four weeks ago that the defensively gifted outfielder was activated after missing 55 games with an injury to the lumbar region in his torso. Since that activation, Inciarte had rebounded with a .293 batting average and 15 RBI in 90 plate appearances. Though his contact-and-defense profile has never been a glamorous one, Inciarte’s absence is sure to cause frustration for a Braves team already thoroughly bitten by injury bugs.

While the Braves hold a 4.5 game lead on their NL East counterparts, the team has had a hard time keeping key players on the field in recent weeks. After injuries to Nick Markakis and Austin Riley, Inciarte’s month-plus departure will reduce Atlanta’s grass patrol to Ronald Acuna Jr., Matt Joyce, Charlie Culberson, Rafael Ortega, and the just-promoted Duvall–a rather thin crew after the talented sophomore from Venezuela.

Braves fans may have hoped that an Inciarte injury would, at least on the bright side, result in the promotion of one of Cristian Pache or Drew Waters, but Atlanta will turn instead to the veteran Duvall as a depth fill-in. After being acquired from the Reds last year, the Braves tendered a $2.875MM salary to the battle-tested slugger this offseason. He’s spent the majority of 2019 in Triple-A but has been a roughly league-average hitter when called upon in 19 MLB games this year (.250/.297/.500 slash line and 99 wRC+). Inciarte’s injury will also precipitate a temporary move back to center field for Acuna Jr., per Burns’ report.


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