Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Braves Rumors

Braves Place Ian Anderson On Injured List

By | at

The Braves announced today that right-hander Ian Anderson has been placed on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to July 13, with right shoulder inflammation. To replace him on the active roster, righty Touki Toussaint has been reinstated from the 60-day IL. Touissant will rejoin the 40-man roster, which had a vacancy but is now full.

An IL stint for Anderson has seemed likely for a few days, as manager Brian Snitker said earlier this week he was headed for further testing after experiencing some shoulder tightness. The diagnosis of inflammation rather than any sort of structural damage is certainly a relief, but Snitker told reporters (including Mark Bowman of MLB.com) he’d be shut down from throwing for seven to ten days.

Anderson hasn’t pitched at the superlative level of his 2020 rookie season, but he’s still having a solid campaign. The 23-year-old has worked 96 innings of 3.56 ERA/4.14 SIERA ball with strikeout and walk rates (24.3% and 9.7%, respectively) not far from league average.

It seems Toussaint will step into Anderson’s spot in the rotation, as Snitker said he’s scheduled to get the ball for next Tuesday’s game against the Padres (via David O’Brien of the Athletic). That’ll mark his season debut, as the 25-year-old landed on the IL at the end of Spring Training due to a shoulder strain. Toussaint tossed 95 innings between 2018-20, managing a 5.97 ERA with an average 24.3% strikeout percentage but an elevated 14.3% walk rate.

Braves Acquire Joc Pederson From Cubs

By | at

The Braves and Cubs have swung a notable trade, as outfielder Joc Pederson is on his way to Atlanta in exchange for first base prospect Bryce Ball.  Both teams have announced the trade, and there doesn’t appear to be any money changing hands in the deal.  This means the Braves will absorb all of the approximately $1.84MM remaining of Pederson’s $4.5MM salary for the 2021 season, as well as the $2.5MM buyout of the $10MM mutual option on his services for 2022.

Pederson addresses a clear and obvious need in the outfield for Atlanta after superstar Ronald Acuna Jr. was lost for the season due to a torn ACL.  Pederson has a lot of center field experience over his career, though it is probably more likely that he’ll be deployed mostly as a corner outfielder for the Braves.  With Pederson handling left or right field on a regular basis and Guillermo Heredia getting the bulk of the work in center field, the Braves can toggle between Orlando Arcia, Ehire Adrianza, Ender Inciarte and Abraham Almonte for the other corner spot and as backup options.

Joc PedersonSome type of right-handed hitting option might be necessary as a complement to Pederson, who has a modest .271/.348/.339 slash line in 66 PA against left-handed pitching this season.  His decision to sign a free agent deal with the Cubs last winter was made in part because Chicago offered Pederson a chance to every day rather than in a platoon capacity, and his numbers are still an improvement from his overall career line against left-handed pitching.  The batting average and OBP are at least respectable enough that the Braves might still use Pederson as more or less an everyday player just to plug one outfield hole.

It also possible the Braves could add another outfielder on the trade market, since today’s swap indicates that the club hasn’t conceded anything in the wake of Acuna’s devastating injury.  Atlanta has a 44-45 record but sits just 3.5 games back of the Mets for first place in the NL East.  Since the Braves have a tough schedule between now and the July 30 trade deadline (five games against the Mets, three against the Phillies, and three each against playoff contenders Tampa Bay and San Diego), it also isn’t out of the question that Pederson could be flipped again if the Braves struggle over the next two weeks and decide to sell some pieces.

An above-average bat for most of his seven seasons with the Dodgers, Pederson was also dealt to the Angels in a rather infamously scuttled deal prior to the 2020 campaign, but he remained on L.A.’s blue team long enough to capture a World Series ring.  He posted a .991 OPS over 37 plate appearances during the Dodgers’ postseason run, providing a happy ending after a struggle (.681 OPS in 138 PA) of a regular season.

The Braves had some interest in Pederson as a free agent, but he ended up signing with Chicago, and still hasn’t really gotten himself right at the plate.  Pederson has been a slightly below-average (95 wRC+, 96 OPS+) hitter in 287 total plate appearances this season, hitting .230/.300/.418 with 11 home runs.  All 11 of those homers have come against right-handed pitching, yet while Pederson sought out more playing time against lefties during the winter, the irony is that he has now struggled to hit righties for two straight seasons.  Pederson has only a .218/.285/.442 slash line in 221 PA against righties this year.

The Cubs have a 44-46 record, only a half-game behind the Braves in the standings and yet seemingly a world apart in terms of expectations for the remainder of the 2021 season.  Chicago has won just six of its last 25 games, thanks to a crushing 11-game losing streak that seems to have put them in a seller’s mindset as the deadline approaches.  As a rental player, Pederson was a natural trade chip to be moved, and speculation has swirled for months that such impending free agents (and franchise cornerstones) such as Kris Bryant, Javier Baez, and Anthony Rizzo could be on the move by July 30.

Today’s trade could be the first of many for the Cubs over the next two weeks, and the Wrigleyville side has already picked up one interesting minor leaguer in Ball.  A 24th-round pick for Atlanta in the 2019 draft, Ball was a power-heavy prospect who immediately displayed that skill in his first pro season, batting a cumulative .329/.395/.628 with 17 homers over 263 PA with the Braves’ rookie league and A-ball teams in 2019.  It hasn’t been as smooth for Ball this year, however, with only a .207/.354/.396 slash line in 212 PA at high-A ball, including a power dropoff resulting in only six home runs and a big reduction in slugging percentage.

MLB Pipeline ranked Ball as the 12th-best prospect in the Braves’ farm system, so he is more than just a lottery ticket at age 23 if the Cubs development system can sharpen his hitting potential.  For the sake of future trade speculation, Ball isn’t really enough of a premium first base prospect that it would make a Rizzo trade any more likely than it already is, necessarily.  (By that same token, dealing a first base prospect probably also isn’t a hint about Freddie Freeman’s future with the Braves, though Freeman certainly doesn’t look like a trade candidate.)

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Pitching Notes: Kimbrel, Cubs, Braves, Lorenzen, Gray, Astros, MadBum

By | at

The Cubs dealt Joc Pederson to the Braves tonight, though a prominent former Brave wasn’t part of the talks between the two teams, as USA Today’s Bob Nightengale (Twitter link) reports that Craig Kimbrel’s availability wasn’t discussed.  Kimbrel would obviously have been a major boost for an inconsistent Atlanta bullpen, but Kimbrel is both considerably more expensive than Pederson and the Cubs surely would’ve demanded a much higher prospect return for the All-Star closer.  Acquiring Kimbrel also would have been a clear all-in move for a Braves team that is still only 44-45, and perhaps only in contention by dint of a congested NL East.  It’s possible that Atlanta might still pivot and start selling by the trade deadline if the team sinks further under the .500 mark over the next two weeks.

More on various hurlers around the sport…

  • Kicking off the second half with a big series against the Brewers, the Reds expect to activate Michael Lorenzen and Sonny Gray from the injured list, Bobby Nightengale of The Cincinnati Enquirer writes.  After missing the entire season due to a shoulder strain, Lorenzen will likely be activated prior to Friday’s game, while Gray (rib cage strain) will start Sunday after missing only the minimum 10 days on the IL.  Lorenzen’s return will be welcomed by a Reds bullpen that has struggled all season, while Gray has pitched well despite three separate IL trips that have limited him to 62 innings.  Cincinnati placed reliever Art Warren on the 10-day IL today due to a left oblique strain, but a 40-man roster move will be necessary to reinstate Lorenzen from the 60-day IL.
  • The Astros are “going to entertain the idea of [acquiring] starting pitchers” at the trade deadline, GM James Click told The Houston Chronicle’s Chandler Rome and other reporters.  Zack Greinke and Jose Urquidy are battling sore shoulders, Framber Valdez’s control has been shaky, and Luis Garcia and Cristian Javier might be approaching innings thresholds.  These issues have combined to turn what had been an area of strength for the Astros into a potential concern down the stretch.  On the plus side, relievers Josh James, Austin Pruitt, and Pedro Baez are all on rehab assignments and are expected to be activated from the injured list soon, with James and Pruitt coming perhaps as early as Friday.  That trio and perhaps Garcia could all fortify the bullpen from within, allowing Houston to pursue rotation help.
  • Madison Bumgarner will be activated from the 10-day injured list to start the Diamondbacks’ game with the Cubs on Friday, according to multiple reporters (including The Athletic’s Zach Buchanan).  Bumgarner has been out of action due to shoulder inflammation since June 3, continuing what has thus far been a disastrous tenure in Arizona for the veteran lefty.  Since signing a five-year, $85MM free agent deal in the 2019-20 offseason, Bumgarner has battled injuries and posted only a 6.04 ERA over 101 1/3 innings.  It is very unlikely that a team will come calling about Bumgarner at the deadline given the size of his remaining contract, so the left-hander’s second half will just be about staying healthy and posting some solid numbers as a platform for better things next year.

Braves Have No Plans To Trade Freddie Freeman

By | at

Ronald Acuna Jr.’s season-ending ACL tear has cast a shadow over what was already a difficult season for the Braves.  Though Atlanta is still only four games behind the Mets for first place in the NL East and seven games out of an NL wild card slot, the Braves have only a 44-45 record.  Getting on track before the trade deadline won’t be easy, as the Braves have 16 games (against the Rays, Padres, Phillies, and Mets) in the 15 days between now and July 30.

A couple of tough weeks could ultimately make Atlanta more inclined to sell rather than buy at the trade deadline.  Even if the team does decide to sell, however, “Freddie Freeman isn’t going anywhere,” MLB Network’s Jon Heyman writes.  On paper, Freeman is a potentially tantalizing trade chip considering both his ability and the fact that 2021 is the last year of his contract, but Heyman reports that both sides want to keep their relationship going without any interruption.

Freeman, of course, has control over his future in the form of 10-and-5 rights — the full no-trade protection granted to players who have 10 years of MLB service time and at least five years with one team.  If Freeman isn’t open to a trade, there isn’t anything the Braves can do, though it doesn’t appear as though the club has any interest in moving him anyway.

It had long been assumed that the two parties would work out a contract extension to keep Freeman in Atlanta well beyond the 2021 season, though whatever extension talks took place prior to Opening Day didn’t seem to result in much progress.  That created some speculation about whether or not Freeman would remain with the Braves, or if the team had concerns about committing a hefty long-term salary to a first base-only player who turns 32 in September.

Just a season removed from NL MVP honors, it certainly doesn’t appear as if Freeman is slowing down.  After a bit of an average start (by his standards) to the 2021 campaign, Freeman is now hitting .274/.381/.489 with 19 homers over a league-best 388 plate appearances.  Freeman’s .410 xwOBA is well above his actual .371 wOBA, so if anything, he projects to deliver even more offensive production in the second half.

A scenario exists where the Braves could trade Freeman to a contender at the deadline, with a quiet handshake agreement in place for Freeman to re-sign with Atlanta as a free agent this winter.  Those types of situations are pretty rare, however, and it would be a risk for the Braves on a couple of levels.  For one, Freeman has never played anywhere outside of the Braves organization, and experiencing what another team has to offer could make him more open to signing elsewhere.  Secondly, keeping Freeman would allow the Braves to issue him a qualifying offer after the season, so Atlanta could recoup a compensatory draft pick if he did sign with another team.

MLBTR Poll: Most Dangerous Second Half Teams

By | at

With the unofficial second half of the season set to kick off tomorrow night, it’s worth taking a moment to look at the current standings. If the season were to end today, the American League postseason field would consist of the White Sox, Astros, Red Sox, Rays and A’s. The National League entrants would be the Giants, Brewers, Mets, Dodgers and Padres.

In all likelihood, though, that field will change a bit over the coming months. According to FanGraphs’ playoff odds, the probability of all ten current would-be playoff teams reaching the postseason is just 14.9%. With that in mind, we’ll turn it over to the MLBTR readership to opine on which teams stand the best chance of making a run and unseating a member of the postseason picture.

For simplicity’s sake, we’ll exclude any team with postseason odds below 3%. That rules out the Nationals, Cardinals, Twins, Marlins, Orioles, Tigers, Royals, Rangers, Pirates, Rockies and Diamondbacks.

American League

Yankees (46-43, playoff chances: 40.4%)

It has been a disappointing season to date for a Yankees team that entered the year with World Series aspirations. The lineup, one of the league’s best on paper, has been thoroughly average to this point. The rotation has been similarly middle-of-the-pack, although that was a bit more foreseeable. The bullpen was one of the league’s best early but has hit a skid recently. With all the talent on the roster, the Yankees feel like they should be better, but their +1 run differential reinforces that they’ve played at a merely OK level so far.

Blue Jays (45-42, playoff chances: 34.5%)

The Jays have had an elite offense all year. They had four All-Star position players, three of whom started for the American League. They’re among the top 5 teams in runs scored and wRC+. The pitching has been less impressive, although the rotation and bullpen are both among the top 15 units in ERA. The Jays have had some ill-timed relief issues, though. A 6-10 record in one-run games (including a 2-5 mark in extra innings) has them just three games over .500 despite the AL’s fourth-best run differential.

Angels (45-44, playoff chances: 15.1%)

There’s no doubting the Angels’ high-end position player talent. Getting Mike Trout back to join Shohei Ohtani, Jared Walsh and Anthony Rendon will make them one of the more fearsome middle-of-the-order groupings. The ever-persistent question is on the pitching staff. Angels starters rank just 25th leaguewide with a 5.04 ERA, and the relief corps hasn’t been much better. The defense hasn’t done the pitchers many favors. Despite the quality lineup, the Angels have been outscored by 26 runs.

Indians (45-42, playoff chances: 6.6%)

The Indians hung around the AL Central for quite a while despite an underwhelming offense. A strong bullpen and a trio of quality starting pitchers kept the team in games, but Cleveland lost each of Shane Bieber, Aaron Civale and Zach Plesac to the injured list. Plesac’s back, but the team has predictably sputtered without their top pitchers. They’re still only 4.5 games back in the Wild Card race, but they’ll have to turn things around against a tough schedule coming out of the Break.

Mariners (48-43, playoff chances: 3%)

Seattle’s offense has been a weak point this season. Only the Rockies have a lower team wRC+, although the M’s have hit well enough with runners in scoring position to plate runs at a near-average rate. Both the rotation and bullpen have higher-than-average ERA’s, and the Mariners -50 run differential is the worst among plausible contenders. The projections are highly skeptical they can keep up that kind of high wire act (hence the low odds), but those wins can’t be taken away and the Mariners enter the second half closer to the playoffs than anyone else in the AL discussion.

Which American League Team Is Most Likely To Make The Playoffs In 2021?
Blue Jays 47.80% (8,909 votes)
Yankees 23.67% (4,413 votes)
Angels 11.68% (2,177 votes)
Mariners 8.43% (1,571 votes)
Indians 8.42% (1,570 votes)
Total Votes: 18,640

 

(poll link for app users)

National League

Reds (48-42, playoff chances: 22.2%)

The Reds have been the National League’s analogue of the Blue Jays. The lineup has been good, ranking sixth in wRC+ and eleventh in runs. The rotation has been solid. Bullpen issues have been Cincinnati’s undoing, as Reds relievers have MLB’s fourth-worst ERA. The Reds are 3.5 games back in the Wild Card race and four back in the NL Central and were playing well leading up to the Break.

Phillies (44-44, playoff chances: 17.8%)

The Phillies lineup has a few stars, but it’s been rather top-heavy and a middle-of-the-pack unit overall. It’s the same story in the rotation, where the back end has continued to be problematic. And the bullpen has blown a league-worst 22 saves. It has been a good core surrounding by a weak enough complimentary cast to keep the team hovering around average. That’s been a common refrain in Philadelphia over the past couple seasons, but few teams can match the Phils’ top-end talent.

Braves (44-45, playoff chances: 7.5%)

One of the more disappointing teams of the first half, Atlanta entered the year as a World Series hopeful but hasn’t gotten into a groove. The lineup has been good, although the loss of Ronald Acuña Jr. is certainly going to be tough to overcome. Starting pitching has been fine but unspectacular, but the bullpen — as with the Reds and Phillies — has been an issue in Atlanta. At +19, the Braves have the best run differential in the NL East, but a 2-6 record in extra-inning games has contributed to them underperforming in the standings.

Cubs (44-46, playoff chances: 4.1%)

The Cubs were in the thick of the NL Central race a few weeks ago. An 11-game losing streak knocked them well back in the standings, though. The current lineup still has some high-end talent, and the bullpen has been great this year. But the rotation has predictably proven an issue, and it seems likely the front office will move some players off the big league roster in the coming weeks.

Which National League Team Is Most Likely To Make The Playoffs In 2021?
Reds 55.88% (11,382 votes)
Phillies 19.96% (4,066 votes)
Braves 18.21% (3,710 votes)
Cubs 5.95% (1,211 votes)
Total Votes: 20,369

 

(poll link for app users)

Braves Outright Jay Flaa

By | at

The Braves announced they’re passed reliever Jay Flaa through waivers and assigned him outright to Triple-A Gwinnett. The 29-year-old doesn’t have the requisite service time to reject an outright assignment, so he’ll remain in the organization.

Flaa is a longtime Orioles farmhand who made his big league debut with Baltimore earlier this year. The O’s waived him after one appearance, though, and the Braves claimed him in mid-May. He’s spent the majority of his Braves tenure with Gwinnett, appearing in 13 games and totaling 14 innings of relief. Flaa’s allowed seven runs (six earned) with the Stripers, striking out a stellar 22 hitters (33.3%) but issuing an alarming 10 unintentional walks (15.4%).

Over parts of two Triple-A seasons, Flaa has pitched to a 5.22 ERA with a 21.1% strikeout rate and a 12% walk percentage. He’ll serve as high minors right-handed depth for an Atlanta bullpen that has disappointed this season. The Braves now have a pair of vacancies on their 40-man roster after placing Ronald Acuña Jr. on the 60-day injured list over the weekend.

Ian Anderson Getting Shoulder Examined

By | at

The Braves don’t need any more injuries than they already have, but right-hander Ian Anderson told reporters after his latest start that he felt some tightness in his shoulder that he’s going to have checked out (link via Gabe Burns of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution). Manager Brian Snitker suggested to reporters that Anderson could land on the injured list after undergoing some tests tomorrow.

Anderson, 23, hasn’t matched his brilliant rookie season from 2020, but he’s still given the Braves 96 innings of 3.56 ERA ball with a 24.3 percent strikeout rate and a 9.7 percent walk rate. Those 96 frames rank second on the team behind Charlie Morton, the team’s only other starter who has not yet required an IL stint in 2021. Anderson walked a career-worst five batters in his most recent outing and has walked 15.2 percent of his opponents through three July starts — nearly double the 8.6 percent rate he’d recorded across 15 prior starts. He’s also tossed three wild pitches in July after throwing only two all season prior.

The rotation was expected to be a strength for the Braves heading into the season, but it’s been a more middle-of-the-pack unit, ranking 14th in ERA (4.05), 11th in innings pitched (461 2/3), 13th in strikeout percentage (23.9) and 19th in walk rate (8.4 percent). Injuries have been a major factor in those rankings and in the Braves’ lackluster showing overall. As with any team that is slowed by injury woes, health (or lack thereof) isn’t the sole factor, but it’s hard to overlook the Braves’ mounting number of issues.

Atlanta won’t get a single inning out of Mike Soroka in 2021 and recently lost superstar Ronald Acuna Jr. to a torn ACL. Starting catcher Travis d’Arnaud went down early with a torn ligament in his thumb. Lefty Max Fried has twice landed on the IL (hamstring strain, blister), and many of the team’s promising young arms are banged up as well. Righty Huascar Ynoa looked to be on his way to a breakout — at least until he broke his hand after punching the dugout bench following a poor outing. Twenty-five-year-old hurlers Tucker Davidson (forearm) and Touki Toussaint (shoulder) are both on the 60-day IL, too.

The end result is a 44-45 record and a third-place standing in the division through the season’s first half. Thankfully for the Braves, the rest of the division is also floundering for various reasons, leaving them just four games back from the lead. That leaves the team a chance to fight back into the mix, although losing Soroka and Acuna for the season are potentially backbreaking injuries that’ll make it extra difficult to right the ship. And with the NL West being stacked up with three of the game’s best records, the Braves are seven back in the Wild Card race, which makes their cleanest path to the playoffs a divisional crown.

Ronald Acuna Jr. Tears Right ACL, Will Undergo Season-Ending Surgery

By | at

JULY 11: Acuna was placed on the 60-day injured list. Utilityman Johan Camargo has been recalled to take his place on the active roster. The Braves will leave a vacancy on the 40-man roster for now.

JULY 10, 10:20PM: The worst-case scenario has occurred, as the Braves announced that Acuna suffered “a complete tear of his right ACL” and will miss the rest of the season after undergoing surgery.  ESPN.com’s Jeff Passan estimates a recovery timeline of 9-10 months for Acuna, so the outfielder will very likely miss time at the start of the 2022 campaign.

JULY 10, 5:13PM: Braves star Ronald Acuna Jr. had to be carted off the field after suffering an apparent injury to his right leg or knee in today’s game against the Marlins.  Acuna suffered the injury while trying to make a jumping catch of a Jazz Chisholm fly ball that instead went for an inside-the-park homer.  Acuna attempted to walk off the field under his own power, but he had to halt midway to the dugout, and was visibly in pain as he sat on the ground.

More will be known about Acuna’s status after the game, but at first glance it certainly looks like a potential season-ending injury for the superstar outfielder.  This is actually the fourth time Acuna has had to make an early exit from a game this season due to an injury, but while those previous instances resulted in just a couple of missed games, today’s injury appears to be much more serious in scope.

Acuna is enjoying yet another huge all-around season, one that earned him a starting nod on the NL All-Star team.  The 23-year-old has hit .283/.394/.596 with 24 home runs over 360 plate appearances, along with 17 stolen bases and an NL-leading 72 runs scored.  Only Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Fernando Tatis Jr. had accumulated more fWAR this season than Acuna’s 3.9 mark, further cementing his status as one of the sport’s brightest talents.

Unfortunately, it now seems like Acuna’s fourth MLB season will be at least put on hold, and quite possibly ended altogether.  It isn’t a reach to say that the Braves’ fate is tied to Acuna, and if he is indeed facing a long-term absence, the team might decide to throw in the towel and become sellers at the July 30 trade deadline.  Atlanta entered today’s play 4.5 games behind the Mets for first place in the NL East, but the Braves have only a 43-44 record, and (according to Fangraphs) a 14.8% chance of reaching the postseason.

Injury Notes: Nationals, Twins, Braves

By | at

Nationals catcher Yan Gomes left yesterday’s ballgame in the second inning with what appeared to be a strained oblique, per Bobby Blanco of MASNsports.com. Losing Gomes would be a significant blow for the Nationals, who already placed his backup, Alex Avila, on the injured list earlier this week. Yadiel Hernandez would currently be the Nats’ emergency catcher, though a roster move could come later today if Gomes is expected to miss any amount of time. Tres Barrera is the other option currently on the active roster. He figures to start today’s ballgame at the very least. The Nats could try to get by with just Hernandez backing up Barrera for the next couple of days with the All-Star break starting on Monday.

Now, let’s check on a couple other injury updates from around the game…

  • Twins catcher Mitch Garver caught a bullpen session on Friday. Both Garver and Jake Cave could begin rehab assignments in Triple-A next week, writes MLB.com’s Do-Hyoung Park (via Twitter).Cave’s return would be particularly notable for the Twins, so long as Kyle Garlick, Rob Refsnyder, and Byron Buxton all remain on the injured list. Rookies Gilberto Celestino and Nick Gordon have been pushed into action in centerfield, where the 28-year-old Cave has seen the majority of his playing time over his four years with Minnesota. Cave started slowly at the dish this season, slashing just .167/.239/.262 in 93 plate appearances before a back injury sent him to the injured list on May 15th. He will be eligible for activation after the All-Star break.
  • Speaking of Refsnyder and Garlick, manager Rocco Baldelli touched on their progress as well, Park adds. Refnsyder could be nearing a return from a hamstring strain, but Garlick hasn’t made much progress. He could still be facing surgery. Garlick has been out for the past month with a sports hernia after logging a perfectly average 100 wRC+ in 107 plate appearances.
  • Braves right-hander Mike Soroka recently underwent successful surgery to repair a torn Achilles for the second time since he last appeared in the Majors, per The Athletic’s David O’Brien (via Twitter). It was Soroka’s third surgery in total. Soroka figures to be out until at least July 2022, though an official timetable for his recovery has not yet been made public.

Braves Option William Contreras, Select Jonathan Lucroy

By | at

The Braves made a change behind the plate, optioning catcher William Contreras to Triple-A and selecting the contract of veteran backstop Jonathan Lucroy.  To create 40-man roster space for Lucroy, southpaw Grant Dayton was moved to the 60-day injured list.

With Travis d’Arnaud injured for much of the season and not expected back until August, the Braves have gotten sub-replacement level production from the catching position this season, ranking 29th of 30 teams in catcher bWAR.  Contreras initially looked good after being called up from Triple-A, but his bat cooled off, leaving the 23-year-old with a modest .204/.278/.387 slash line and seven home runs in 158 plate appearances.

It’s probably safe to assume that Contreras will be recalled at some point this season, perhaps as soon as he gets his timing back and strings together some good games at the plate for Triple-A Gwinnett.  In the interim, Atlanta will make do at catcher with the veteran combo of Lucroy and Kevan Smith, and Alex Jackson is also on a rehab assignment after missing two months with a strained hamstring and an injured finger.

Lucroy inked a minor league deal with the Braves in May, about a month after he chose free agency rather than accept an outright assignment to the Nationals’ alternate training site.  Lucroy appeared in five games with Washington this season and one game with the Red Sox in 2020, and it has now been several seasons since the former All-Star has been a significant force in a lineup.

Until Jackson is ready to return, Lucroy and Smith could essentially be competing to see who remains on the MLB roster, though Atlanta could also opt to keep the two veterans on hand and keep the less-experienced Jackson at Triple-A.  While d’Arnaud’s return should theoretically stabilize matters, the Braves could certainly look to acquire catching help at the trade deadline, adding some depth in case d’Arnaud has a setback.

Show all

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

hide arrows scroll to top