Braves Place Kenley Jansen On Injured List Due To Irregular Heartbeat
The Braves announced Tuesday that closer Kenley Jansen has been placed on the 15-day injured list due to an irregular heartbeat. The move is retroactive to June 27. Right-hander Jesus Cruz has been recalled from Triple-A Gwinnett to take his spot on the active roster.
It’s a worrisome ailment for Jansen, though this is far from the first time the 34-year-old has dealt with the issue. Jansen has thrice been placed on the injured list due to irregular heartbeats — once in 2011 and again in both 2017 and 2018. He’s had a pair of cardiac ablation procedures during his big league career in hopes of corralling the issue, though it seems he’s not yet entirely out of the woods in that regard.
The Braves’ announcement didn’t include a timetable for Jansen’s return, although his most recent IL placement for this issue, back in 2018, resulted in a minimal 10-day absence. The Braves are surely hopeful for a similarly quick return this time around, although the obvious broader hope is that, regardless of Jansen’s availability on the baseball field, he can remain in overall good health and eventually move beyond episodes of this nature entirely.
Jansen, in his first year with any organization other than the Dodgers, has been quite good. The three-time All-Star carries a 3.58 ERA through 32 2/3 innings, and secondary metrics like FIP (2.18), SIERA (2.07) and xERA (2.12) feel he’s been considerably better than that earned run average would indicate. That’s due largely to Jansen’s brilliant 36.4% strikeout rate, his strong 6.2% walk rate and his continued ability to limit hard contact better than nearly any pitcher in the league (86.5 mph average exit velocity, 28.4% hard-hit rate).
Taking Jansen’s place on the roster in the short term will be the 27-year-old Cruz, who pitched six innings of one-run ball for the Braves earlier this season. The former Cardinals minor leaguer has been similarly sharp in Gwinnett, where he’s notched a tidy 2.45 ERA with a sensational 24-to-1 K/BB ratio through 14 2/3 innings of relief.
Mets Claim Kramer Robertson, Transfer Tylor Megill To 60-Day IL
The Mets have claimed infielder Kramer Robertson off waivers from the Braves, tweets Tim Healey of Newsday. He’s been optioned to Triple-A Syracuse. That’s also true of reliever Colin Holderman, who was reinstated from the 15-day injured list and sent to the minors. To clear a spot on the 40-man roster for Robertson, the Mets transferred Tylor Megill from the 15-day to the 60-day IL.
A former fourth-round pick of the Cardinals, Robertson made it to the big leagues last month. He appeared in two games, picking up his first plate appearance, before being optioned back out. St. Louis designated the 27-year-old for assignment not too long thereafter, and the Braves grabbed him off waivers.
Robertson has spent 13 games with Atlanta’s top affiliate in Gwinnett. Despite playing quite well over that stretch, he apparently landed on waivers over the weekend. (The club didn’t announce his removal from the 40-man roster at the time). The Braves’ attempt to slip Robertson through waivers and keep him in the organization as a non-roster player was thwarted by their division rivals.
In parts of three Triple-A seasons, the LSU product owns a .246/.369/.398 slash line. He’s walked in a stellar 14.3% of his plate appearances at the minors’ highest level and can cover anywhere on the infield. Robertson is in his first of three minor league option years, so the Mets will add a flexible upper level depth option if they keep him on the 40-man roster.
Megill’s IL transfer backdates to June 17, when he first landed on the shelf. The right-hander suffered a shoulder strain and won’t begin a throwing program until around the All-Star Break, and he’ll certainly need weeks to build up arm strength even in a best-case scenario. It never seemed likely he’d be back before mid-August given that initial timeline, and today’s move makes that official.
Ronald Acuna Jr. Suffers Foot Injury, Could Be Headed To 10-Day IL
Ronald Acuna Jr. fouled a ball off his left foot during Saturday’s game, and the injury eventually forced the Braves star to leave the lineup. While x-rays were negative, Acuna told reporters (including ESPN’s Marly Rivera) today that a trip to the 10-day injured list is a possibility “because I can’t put any weight on my foot.” To this end, Acuna had to use a scooter to get around the clubhouse today, though he wasn’t wearing a protective boot.
The Braves don’t play on Monday, so the team might take an extra 48 hours to evaluate Acuna to see if an IL stint is indeed necessary. However, it is probably likely that the Braves play it safe and put Acuna on the injured list, given his health history and his import to Atlanta’s lineup.
It has been almost two full months since Acuna was activated from the injured list, after his right ACL tear prematurely ended his 2021 season last July. Acuna has hit .281/.372/.455 with seven home runs over 196 plate appearances in 2022 — well above-average numbers, though actually a step behind the MVP-level production Acuna generated in 2018-21. The Braves eased Acuna back into action with some DH days early in his return, though he has played his last 20 games in right field.
If Acuna does have to visit the IL, it will further hamper an Atlanta club that is already missing Ozzie Albies due to foot surgery. On the plus side, the Braves have been able to get by just fine without Albies, as they are baseball’s hottest team in June — Atlanta is 19-4 this month, heading into tonight’s game with the Dodgers. With Acuna out, the Braves could give Guillermo Heredia more playing time, or use Marcell Ozuna more as a corner outfielder than as a designated hitter.
Max Fried Wins Arbitration Hearing Against Braves
Braves lefty Max Fried won his arbitration hearing against the Braves and will be paid a $6.85MM salary for the current season rather than the $6.6MM sum submitted by the team, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports (Twitter link).
Fried, the No. 7 overall pick by the Padres in 2012 who came to the Braves by way of the 2014 Justin Upton trade, has emerged as Atlanta’s most consistent starter in recent years. The 28-year-old broke out with a huge 11-start showing during the shortened 2020 season and built upon that success in 2021, pitching to a 3.04 ERA with a solid 23.7% strikeout rate, an excellent 6.1% walk rate and a strong 51.8% ground-ball rate — all while tying his career-high in innings pitched (165 2/3).
That success has carried over into the 2022 campaign as he’s posted nearly identical numbers — 2.77 ERA, 23.7% strikeout rate, 4.3% walk rate, 51.6% grounder rate — although this year’s consistency wasn’t a factor in the hearing. Despite being conducted during the ongoing season, arbitration hearings were based solely on prior statistical performance, as is the case in a typical offseason when they’re conducted in February. (That was not possible this winter, given the league-implemented 99-day lockout.) Players with unresolved cases have been paid at the team-submitted figure prior to hearings. Now that he’s won his hearing, Fried will be credited with retroactive pay to make up the difference to this point, and he’ll be paid at the new rate moving forward.
This is Fried’s second time through the arbitration process, and he’ll be eligible twice more by virtue of his standing as a Super Two player. He’s controllable by the Braves through the 2024 season — barring a long-term contract extension.
The $250K gap between the figures submitted by the team and player will strike most fans as trivial, and while that’s largely true, both parties have reason to take a hard stance. Any arbitration ruling becomes a data point for future arbitration negotiations among all 30 teams — arbitration is based on precedent among statistical comparables — so making even small concessions has a compounding impact over time. (MLBTR chatted with several general managers, assistant GMs and other front office execs about the system and going to trial over at-times trivial sums a few years back, for those who’d like to read more on the matter.) For Fried, he’ll now earn at a higher rate this season, and his subsequent raises over the next two seasons will now be built upon a slightly larger baseline.
With both Fried and Marlins catcher Jacob Stallings now seeing their pending arbitration cases resolved — Stallings recently lost a hearing against the Marlins — Yankees superstar Aaron Judge is the last remaining case to be settled. His hearing is reportedly set to take place on Friday.
Braves Release Nick Vincent
The Braves have released veteran righty Nick Vincent from their Triple-A affiliate in Gwinnett, per the transactions log at MiLB.com. The 35-year-old Vincent inked a minor league deal back on March 20.
Long one of the game’s more underappreciated relievers, Vincent has pitched at least 12 1/3 innings in the Majors every year dating back to his 2012 debut with the Padres. He’s worked to a sub-4.00 ERA in eight of those campaigns and notched identical marks of 4.43 in the other two. Overall, he sports a career 3.30 ERA with an above-average 24.1% strikeout rate and a very strong 6.2% walk rate in 411 2/3 Major League innings.
Despite that track record, Vincent has been outrighted three times in his big league career and has been relegated to minor league deals in free agency in recent years. The soft-tossing righty’s lack of velocity likely hasn’t helped his cause when it comes to appealing to modern front offices; Vincent’s heater has never averaged even 91 mph in a given big league season, and he averaged just 89.3 mph on the pitch in his 12 2/3 frames with the Twins in 2021. He’s typically offset that lack of zip on his fastball via pristine walk rates, a knack for inducing weak contact (career 87.2 mph average exit velocity, 32.2% hard-hit rate) and a better-than-average rate at keeping the ball in the yard.
Vincent’s time in Gwinnett didn’t go particularly smoothly, as he was tagged for 16 runs (albeit only 11 of them earned) in 19 2/3 innings. However, he was also dogged by a sky-high .462 batting average on balls in play, and his 30.7% strikeout rate and 4.5% walk rate were both excellent. Yesterday’s implementation of a maximum 13-man pitching staff likely doesn’t help Vincent’s cause in getting another big league look, but the majority of teams have more pronounced bullpen needs than the Braves currently do, so he ought to latch on elsewhere sooner than later.
Braves Designate Jacob Webb For Assignment, Reinstate Collin McHugh
The Braves have reinstated Collin McHugh from the COVID injured list and designated reliever Jacob Webb for assignment, per The Athletic’s David O’Brien (via Twitter).
Webb spent the past three seasons in Atlanta’s bullpen, making two postseason appearances en route to winning a ring last season. He was selected off waivers by the Diamondbacks in April before Atlanta purchased his contract back last week. Webb made six appearances in Triple-A with Arizona, posting a 10.12 ERA in a small-sample 5 1/3 innings. He has not appeared in the Majors this season.
McHugh should be a key cog for the Braves as they try to make up ground in the NL East. The 34-year-old has appeared in 21 games this season with a 3.42 ERA/2.21 FIP across 23 2/3 innings. He’s in the first year of a two-year guaranteed deal with a team option for 2024.
Ozzie Albies Undergoes Foot Surgery, Expected To Return This Season
4:43pm: Toscano writes that the Braves do anticipate Albies being able to return at some point this season.
2:43pm: Ozzie Albies recently underwent surgery to repair the fracture in his left foot, tweets Justin Toscano of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. It isn’t clear what impact, if any, the procedure has on his recovery timeline. In any event, Albies won’t be back until at least mid-August after landing on the 60-day injured list yesterday.
Albies fractured his foot during Monday night’s win over the Nationals. He stumbled out of the batter’s box after hitting a ground-ball, and the club announced the fracture diagnosis within an hour of his departing the game. Atlanta wasted no time in putting him on the 60-day IL the next morning, selecting utilityman Phil Gosselin to take his roster spot. Orlando Arcia will be the club’s primary second baseman for the foreseeable future.
A two-time All-Star, Albies had been off to a bit of a slow start this year, posting a personal-worst .244/.289/.405 line through 263 trips to the plate. Arcia has hit well through 18 games this season, but he’s a career .245/.296/.368 hitter at the major league level. The Braves will presumably want to see whether he can keep performing at anywhere near this season’s .327/.393/.519 pace, but it seems likely the club will at least look into possible acquisitions before the August 2 trade deadline — particularly if Arcia’s bat cools in the next month.
The Braves have won 13 in a row, pulling themselves within five games of the NL East-leading Mets entering play Wednesday. At 36-27, Atlanta currently occupies the third and final Wild Card spot in the National League, holding a two-game advantage over the Brewers.
Braves Select Phil Gosselin, Place Ozzie Albies On 60-Day Injured List
The Braves announced this morning that they’ve selected the contract of veteran infielder Phil Gosselin from Triple-A Gwinnett. Ozzie Albies, who suffered a fractured left foot in last night’s game, has been placed on the 60-day injured list to open a spot on the active and 40-man rosters.
It’s something of a homecoming for Gosselin, who was originally drafted by the Braves in the fifth round of the 2010 draft and made his big league debut with the team in 2013. Much has changed with the Braves since Gosselin was with the big league club from 2013-15, but he ought to be quite familiar with current manager Brian Snitker, a Braves organization lifer who has extensive experience coaching and managing throughout the Braves’ minor league system.
Gosselin returned to the Braves on a minor league deal this offseason and began the season with their Triple-A affiliate, where he’s slashed .297/.358/.473 through 204 plate appearances. He’s played more third base than any other position in the minors this year, but the Braves have also given Gosselin time at second base, first base and in the outfield corners. That’s nothing new for Gosselin, who has played every position other than catcher and pitcher in his professional career.
Since being traded from the Braves to the D-backs, Gosselin has bounced around the league and now seen time with seven teams. He’s settled in as a journeyman utility player, often filling a need but rarely sticking in any one place too long due in large part to a lack of offensive contributions. Gosselin sports a solid .261 batting average in 1122 career plate appearances, but he’s paired that with a below-average .314 on-base percentage and a very light .362 slugging percentage. For teams in need of a serviceable fill-in basically anywhere on the infield — just the situation in which the Braves currently find themselves — the 33-year-old has proven himself a fine role player.
Gosselin figures to see occasional action at second base in place of Albies, but Orlando Arcia is the likeliest option for regular work at the position while Albies mends. Acquired from the Brewers early in the 2021 campaign, Arcia is out to a .313/.393/.458 start in a small sample of 56 plate appearances this year. The former top prospect has a much more tepid .244/.296/.366 batting line in his overall big league career, however, so fans shouldn’t expect Arcia to continue hitting anywhere near that torrid pace.
Depending on Albies’ outlook and whether surgery is required, it’s possible the Braves could look to the trade market to add a more clear-cut starting option. If, however, Albies is expected back by season’s end, the Braves could opt for a piecemeal approach to their newfound second base shortage. Albies will technically be eligible to return on Aug. 13, but as of yet, the Braves have provided neither an update on how the injury will be treated nor on when Albies can be expected to return.
Ozzie Albies Suffers Foot Fracture
The Braves announced that second baseman Ozzie Albies has fractured his left foot. He departed tonight’s game against the Nationals in the fifth inning after suffering the injury.
Albies stumbled out of the batter’s box after hitting a ground-ball to shortstop. He was able to walk off the field under his own power, but he immediately departed the game and initial x-rays revealed a fracture. The club will no doubt provide a more specific timetable for his recovery over the coming days, but it’s likely he’s in for an extended absence.
The switch-hitting Albies has started 61 of Atlanta’s 62 games at the keystone. The lone other start went to utilityman Orlando Arcia, who’d seem to be the likeliest candidate to take over the position moving forward. Aside from the starting infield of Matt Olson, Dansby Swanson and Austin Riley, the only other primary infielders on the Atlanta 40-man roster are first baseman/DH Mike Ford and recent waiver claim Kramer Robertson. The latter is capable of playing second base but has exactly one MLB plate appearance under his belt.
Arcia has hit well in limited playing time off the bench this season, but he’s been a below-average offensive player in every other year of his career. The former Brewer shortstop is a lifetime .244/.295/.365 hitter in a bit more than 2000 plate appearances at the big league level. Albies is a two-time All-Star and Silver Slugger Award winner who has been above-average at the dish in every full season of his career.
Albies had been off to a bit of a slow start this year, as he owns a personal-worst .244/.289/.405 line through 263 trips to the plate. He’d rated well defensively, though, and his career track record suggested he was likely to turn the corner offensively. Those efforts will now be put on hold.
The Braves have been playing as well as anyone in the sport over the past few weeks. They’re amidst an 11-game win streak that has pushed them to 34-27 entering play Monday. A slow start coupled with the Mets’ excellent first couple months still has Atlanta five and a half games back in the NL East standings, but the defending champions currently occupy the league’s third and final Wild Card spot.
Depending on how long Albies is expected to miss, general manager Alex Anthopoulos and his staff could turn to the trade market for help. Players such as Brandon Drury (Reds), Rougned Odor (Orioles) and César Hernández (Nationals) are impending free agents on non-competitive teams and aren’t going to demand a huge trade return. If the club looks internally for depth behind Arcia, non-roster veterans Phil Gosselin, Hernán Pérez and Pat Valaika are at Triple-A Gwinnett, as is recent waiver claim Joe Dunand. Gosselin, in particular, is hitting well with the Stripers this season.
Braves Claim Mike Ford, Designate Joe Dunand
June 12: Dunand cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Gwinnett, per David O’Brien of The Athletic.
June 10: The Braves announced they’ve claimed first baseman Mike Ford off waivers from the Mariners and optioned him to Triple-A Gwinnett. Infielder Joe Dunand has been designated for assignment to clear 40-man roster space.
It has been a roller-coaster of a season for Ford, who’s now on his third different organization of the year. He signed a minor league deal with Seattle, then was selected onto the big league roster in April. Seattle designated him for assignment and traded him to the Giants fairly quickly, then acquired him back from San Francisco two weeks later once the Giants DFA him themselves. Ford held his second 40-man roster spot in Seattle for a few weeks, but the M’s again took him off the roster this past weekend.
Through it all, Ford has appeared in 17 MLB games. He’s compiled a rather bizarre .182/.357/.212 slash line, the product of eight walks but 12 strikeouts in only 42 plate appearances. It’s the fourth consecutive year in which he’s logged some big league time, with all of his pre-2022 MLB work coming in a Yankees uniform. The left-handed hitter broke in with an excellent .259/.350/.559 showing with 12 home runs in 50 games as a rookie, but he owns a .144/.273/.263 line in just shy of 200 plate appearances since the start of the 2020 camapign.
The 29-year-old adds a left-handed hitting depth option to the organization. Matt Olson obviously has first base accounted for, but the Braves have gotten subpar work (.252/.328/.360) out of their designated hitters. Ford is in his final minor league option year, meaning the Braves can keep him in Gwinnett for the rest of the season if they’re willing to carry him on the 40-man roster. He’s hit .271/.417/.417 in 14 Triple-A games this year.
Dunand was a recent waiver claim himself, coming over from the division-rival Marlins last week. His time in the organization may now be coming to close without a big league game, as the 26-year-old has just appeared in five games with Gwinnett. He did make a brief cameo in Miami earlier in the year, logging three appearances.
A former second-round pick, the right-handed hitting Dunand has a .209/.295/.376 line in 328 Triple-A plate appearances. He’s struggled with strikeouts throughout his minor league tenure, but the 6’2″ infielder has drawn praise in the past for his raw power potential. Dunand has played mostly on the left side of the infield in the minors, with a bit more work at shortstop than at third base. The Braves will have a week to trade him or look to run through waivers themselves.