Braves Option William Contreras, Select Jonathan Lucroy
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.
Braves Recall Orlando Arcia
The Braves announced they’ve recalled Orlando Arcia from Triple-A Gwinnett. Left-hander Kyle Muller was optioned out last night to clear active roster space.
Arcia will be making his team debut when he first appears in a game. Atlanta acquired him from the Brewers for relievers Patrick Weigel and Chad Sobotka in early April but immediately optioned him. That wasn’t unreasonable; while Arcia was a one-time top prospect, he never developed the way the Brewers had hoped. Between 2018-21, the right-handed hitting infielder hit just .232/.282/.344 (64 wRC+) across 1112 plate appearances. Arcia was coming off a career-best 2020, but his .260/.317/.416 line last year was still a tad worse than league average.
To his credit, Arcia has looked completely rejuvenated since changing organizations. The 26-year-old has hit .303/.380/.552 over 229 trips to the plate with the Stripers. He’s popped thirteen home runs and compiled an equal number of walks and strikeouts (25 apiece). Arcia’s 145 wRC+ ranks tenth among the 79 Triple-A East hitters to tally at least 150 plate appearances.
Arcia will get another chance to try to carry over that success against big league arms. A longtime shortstop in Milwaukee, he’s also seen action at third base and in left field this season in preparation for a potential multi-positional role off the bench.
Braves Reinstate Max Fried, Option Sean Newcomb
The Braves have reinstated Max Fried from the injured list and optioned Sean Newcomb to Triple-A, the team announced.
It’s been a season of false starts so far for Fried, whose has twice been on the injured list, once with a hamstring strain and more recently with a blister. Nevertheless, he’s managed to make 11 starts, pitching to a 4.21 ERA/3.89 FIP across 57 2/3 innings. The Braves’ rotation has been a strength, tying for the Majors’ lead in fWAR this month with 3.1 fWAR.
He will not, unfortunately, help the offense. In the past month, the Braves’ bats rank 20th with a 95 wRC+. Despite their struggles the Braves are just 5 1/2 games behind the Mets in the NL East. With Fried alongside Charlie Morton, Drew Smyly, Kyle Muller, and Ian Anderson, the rotation will look to lead the Braves until their offense finds its way.
As for Newcomb, the 28-year-old hasn’t had the bottom line results he desires with a 5.82 ERA in 21 2/3 innings, though a 3.98 FIP suggests there could be smoother sailing ahead. Fact is, Newcomb needs to find his command after posting a far-too-high 18.5 percent walk rate.
Mike Soroka To Undergo Season-Ending Achilles Surgery
11:53AM: While an official recovery timeline won’t be known until after the surgery, MLB.com’s Mark Bowman (via Twitter) estimates that Soroka will be out for a full year, until July 2022.
11:11AM: Braves right-hander Mike Soroka will undergo surgery to fix a torn Achilles tendon, the team announced (Twitter links). This will be the second season-ending Achilles procedure in as many years for Soroka, as according to the Braves’ announcement, he suffered “a complete re-tear of the tendon” while walking to the team’s clubhouse on Thursday.
It is another brutal turn of events for Soroka, who already underwent exploratory surgery on his Achilles back in May. Atlanta manager Brian Snitker initially thought Soroka would be done for the season after that surgery, though more recent reports had the team hopeful that the righty could return to action some time in August.
The 23-year-old Soroka was a breakout star of the 2019 season, posting a 2.68 ERA, 20.3% strikeout rate, and 51.2% grounder rate over 174 2/3 innings en route to finishing second in NL Rookie Of The Year voting and sixth in NL Cy Young Award voting. Just when it seemed as though Soroka had established himself as one of baseball’s top young arms, however, he tore his Achilles while covering first base on a fielding play during a game on August 3, 2020, ending his season after just three starts.
Between some shoulder inflammation and the May surgery, Soroka hasn’t pitched since that fateful August 3 game, and in the wake of these repeated major Achilles injuries, it is fair to wonder just when he might able to get back to action. A return by Opening Day 2022 doesn’t seem likely, as an increased amount of rehab and recovery will undoubtedly be required after this second surgery.
Soroka is under team control through the 2024 season, as he still has three years of arbitration eligibility remaining due to earning Super Two status. Despite tossing only 13 2/3 innings in 2020, Soroka still won an arbitration case with the Braves this past offseason, earning him a $2.8MM salary for 2021 in his first time through the arb process. He’ll be projected to earn that same salary for 2022, so there isn’t much of a chance Atlanta would non-tender Soroka given the low price tag and his big upside if he is able to stay healthy.
In the shorter term, the Braves now know they won’t be getting Soroka back as a late-season rotation boost. Charlie Morton, Ian Anderson, and Drew Smyly comprise Atlanta’s current top three, with Max Fried expected to return this week from a blister. Huascar Ynoa (broken hand) and Tucker Davidson (forearm inflammation) are both on the 60-day IL and won’t be back until August, while the likes of Kyle Wright, Bryse Wilson, and Kyle Muller haven’t distinguished themselves in starting roles. It’s safe to assume Atlanta was looking for starting pitching help even prior to today’s news about Soroka, though with a 36-39 record, the Braves will have to start stringing together some wins over the next month to ensure that they’ll be buyers whatsoever at the trade deadline.
Braves Select Jesse Chavez, Tanner Roark
5:58PM: The Braves officially announced the roster moves.
5:50PM: Tanner Roark‘s contract has also been selected, MLB.com’s Mark Bowman reports (Twitter link). Roark inked a minor league deal with Atlanta shortly after the Blue Jays released him in early May. The veteran righty is looking for a fresh start after posting a 6.75 ERA over 54 2/3 innings for Toronto since the start of the 2020 season. In corresponding moves, Atlanta optioned right-handers Kyle Wright and Ty Tice to Triple-A, while catcher Alex Jackson and lefty Tucker Davidson were moved to the 60-day IL to create space for Chavez and Roark on the 40-man roster.
12:26PM: The Braves will select the contract of right-hander Jesse Chavez to start a bullpen game against the Reds tonight, tweets Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer. Chavez signed a minor league pact with the Braves back in April.
It was already known that Atlanta would be going with a bullpen game Thursday after recently placing Max Fried on the injured list due to a blister and playing a pair of doubleheaders this week. The Braves have yet to formally announce the move themselves, though that announcement — and a corresponding 40-man roster move — figures to come along shortly.
Chavez, 37, is a 13-year Major League veteran who’ll now be in his second stint as a member of the Braves. He pitched in 28 games for Atlanta back in 2010 when he was still working to solidify himself as a viable big league arm. Things didn’t pan out the first time around, but Chavez has gone on to have a solid career as a well-traveled swingman. From 2013-19, he split time between the A’s, Blue Jays, Dodgers, Angels, Rangers and Cubs, working to a combined 4.12 ERA in 738 2/3 innings (77 starts, 230 relief outings).
The 2020 season was an ugly one for Chavez, who was tagged for 13 runs in 17 innings out of the Rangers’ bullpen. He’s bounced back with a strong showing for Triple-A Gwinnett in 2021, logging 20 innings of 2.25 ERA ball with a 27-to-8 K/BB ratio. He’s been particularly sharp of late, rattling off six straight shutout innings and punching out 11 of his past 22 opponents.
Chavez hasn’t thrown more than two innings or topped 35 pitches in any of his 13 appearances with Gwinnett this season, so it’s unlikely he’ll be tasked with pitching any more than three innings unless he makes particularly quick work of the Reds the first time through the order. Today’s outing figures to be a spot start, but Chavez has a solid overall track record in the Majors and could stick around to give the Braves some depth in the bullpen if he fares well.
Health Notes: Bregman, Belt, Seager, Knebel, d’Arnaud
The Astros placed star third baseman Alex Bregman on the injured list due to a left quad strain last week, although the timeline for his potential return was undefined. Manager Dusty Baker offered a little more clarity today, telling reporters (including Mark Berman of FOX 26) Bregman would be out for “two to three weeks or more.” With the All-Star break about three weeks away, it wouldn’t be a surprise if Bregman doesn’t return until the season’s unofficial second half begins July 16. The Astros have primarily relied on Abraham Toro in recent days, winning all seven of their games since Bregman went down.
In other health situations around the league:
- Giants first baseman Brandon Belt left this afternoon’s game against the Angels after stumbling while running the bases. He has an undisclosed right knee injury and will go for an MRI, manager Gabe Kapler told reporters (including Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area). Belt has quietly been fantastic this season, hitting .253/.365/.518 with 11 home runs across 197 plate appearances. If he winds up requiring an injured list stint, it’d be a tough blow to a Giants club that currently holds a 3.5 game lead in the National League West.
- Dodgers manager Dave Roberts provided updates on a pair of injured players in a session with reporters (including Juan Toribio of MLB.com and Fabian Ardaya of the Athletic). Shortstop Corey Seager, who has been out since May 15 with a fractured right hand, is still feeling some soreness that’s delaying his embarking on a potential rehab assignment. Seager’s injury called for him to miss at least a month, but it seems his progression is going a little slower than the team had initially hoped. Meanwhile, reliever Corey Knebel, who went down with a right lat strain in late April, is targeting a return to the big league club by the end of August.
- Braves manager Brian Sntiker told reporters (including David O’Brien of the Athletic) that catcher Travis d’Arnaud is “right on track” in his recovery from a torn ligament in his right thumb. The team hopes he’ll make his return at some point in August. With d’Arnaud out, Atlanta has primarily turned to rookie William Contreras behind the dish. The 23-year-old has held his own, hitting .227/.306/.437 in 134 plate appearances.
Braves Promote Kyle Muller
The Braves announced that left-handed pitching prospect Kyle Muller has been called up to the Major League roster. Muller will take the spot of southpaw Tucker Davidson, who (as expected) was placed on the 10-day injured list due to left forearm inflammation.
Baseball Prospectus gave Muller solid rankings (60th in 2020, 62nd this year) in their last two preseason top-prospect listings, and MLB Pipeline lists Muller as the fifth-best prospect in Atlanta’s farm system. A second-round pick in the 2016 draft, Muller posted solid numbers in his first four pro seasons and pitched at the Braves’ alternate training site in 2020, though he has hit some bumps in his first stint at Triple-A this year.
Muller has a 4.60 ERA through 31 1/3 frames for Triple-A Gwinnett, with a troublingly large number of homers (six) and walks (19) that undermines his 28.9% strikeout rate. The home runs are a new issue for Muller, who gave up just 18 home runs total in his first 326 2/3 innings in Atlanta’s organization, though his control problems also began to creep up at Double-A in 2019. MLB Pipeline’s scouting report cites Muller’s command as his chief issue, though also praises the 23-year-old’s ceiling as a potential four-pitch starter. He already possesses a 65-grade fastball that sits in the high-90’s and a 55-grade curveball, and Muller has been working on improving his changeup and slider as well.
The Athletic’s David O’Brien (Twitter links) notes that Muller’s last three Triple-A outings have been very strong, which could explain why the Braves turned to Muller over Kyle Wright and Bryse Wilson, who have both have started games for the Braves this season. Muller is slated for bullpen work for now, O’Brien writes, though it remains to be seen who will start in Davidson’s place on Sunday.
Braves’ Tucker Davidson Headed To IL With Forearm Strain
Braves lefty Tucker Davidson left his start tonight against the Red Sox after 53 pitches due to a forearm strain, and he’s headed to the IL according to David O’Brien of The Athletic. On a positive note, O’Brien says Davidson “tested well after coming out of the game” – ultimately a 10-8 loss for Atlanta.
Davidson, 25, made just the fifth appearance of his MLB career tonight. His first three starts this year went quite well, with only three earned runs allowed in 17 2/3 innings. Davidson opened the season at Triple-A Gwinnett, but got the call when Max Fried hit the IL for a hamstring injury. He was sent back down without appearing in a game, but jumped into the Braves’ rotation in mid-May after Huascar Ynoa fractured his hand punching the dugout bench. Davidson was optioned again despite pitching well in that May 18th start, but was the Braves’ choice when they needed a June 3rd spot start against the Nationals after several rainouts.
Prior to the season, Baseball America pegged Davidson as a 50-grade prospect despite some scouts’ belief that he profiles as a reliever in the Majors. Kyle Wright and Bryse Wilson, currently working at Triple-A, could be options to replace Davidson. The Braves also added veteran Tanner Roark in May, though he’s been working out of the bullpen for the Stripers.
Injury Notes: deGrom, Mondesi, Kim, Rendon, Davidson, Means
It’s the Year of the Injury, and this post will house many of the evening’s updates on that front.
- Let’s start off with some good news for everyone except the Cubs: Mets ace Jacob deGrom is set to start tomorrow night. DeGrom left his start Friday due to right flexor tendinitis, but the MRI came back clean.
- Royals shortstop Adalberto Mondesi was reinstated from the IL, with reliever Ronald Bolanos going on it. Mondesi, who strained his hamstring on May 31st, is active but not in tonight’s lineup.
- Cardinals lefty Kwang Hyun Kim is also off the IL, and is starting tonight against the Marlins. Kim had a brief IL stint for lower back soreness.
- Angels manager Joe Maddon told reporters the injured list has been ruled out for third baseman Anthony Rendon, who’s recovering from a mild triceps strain. Rendon has struggled at the plate this year, with a 90 wRC+ in 191 plate appearances. By measure of OPS, his .679 mark is the worst single-season 45-game slump of Rendon’s career since his 2013 rookie season.
- Luis Severino‘s rehab start injury Saturday was described as a Grade 2 groin strain by Yankees manager Aaron Boone. This will set him back about a month, leading to a possible late July/early August return.
- Braves southpaw Tucker Davidson left tonight’s start after 53 pitches with left forearm tightness, according to the team. Davidson entered the night unscored-upon in his last 11 2/3 innings, spanning a pair of starts.
- Orioles ace John Means, pulled from a June 5th start in the first inning, began playing catch for the first time since the injury according to MLB.com’s Joe Trezza. Means may be able to return by month’s end. With a 2.28 ERA and a no-hitter on the season, the lefty seems a lock for the All-Star Game.
GM: Braves Can Add Payroll At Trade Deadline
During a wide-reaching interview that any Braves fan will want to check out in its entirety, Atlanta general manager Alex Anthopoulos confirmed to Jeff Schultz of The Athletic that he’s been told by ownership he’ll have the ability to “add payroll at the deadline.”
It’s common for teams to leave room for in-season maneuvering when making their offseason transactions, but this sort of direct acknowledgment from a baseball operations leader is still of note — particularly on the heels of an offseason where virtually every club in the game had to work with more budgetary constraints than usual. The Braves were no exception, as they spent heavily to address the rotation and to re-sign Marcell Ozuna but appeared to be on a rather strict budget beyond those moves. The bullpen went largely unaddressed, though the team did ultimately bring Shane Greene back into the mix on an affordable one-year deal in early May.
There’s a vast array of directions the Braves can choose to go as they look to bolster the roster, though as with most clubs, they’re likely several weeks away from making any actual transactions. Sellers often prefer to wait until the market has more competition, and the Braves themselves right now probably want to take more time to evaluate the roster. Atlanta is five games out of first place at the moment and three games under .500. They’ll presumably operate as a buyer, given the generally underwhelming performance of the entire NL East, but a prolonged losing streak could send them in another direction, of course.
It’s also quite likely that the Braves want to gather more information on internal reinforcements before spending what still figures to be a limited amount of available resources. To that end, Anthopoulos notably reveals that he’s optimistic the Braves will get each of Mike Soroka, Travis d’Arnaud and Huascar Ynoa back at some point in the month of August.
The general assumption has been that Ynoa, who fractured his hand after punching the bench in the dugout after a poor outing, would make his way back in the season’s second half. But that hasn’t at all been clear regarding d’Arnaud and particularly regarding Soroka. The veteran d’Arnaud has been out since May 1 after tearing a ligament in his thumb that required surgery.
Soroka, meanwhile, opened the year on the injured list while wrapping up rehab from the Achilles tear that limited him to just three starts in 2020. But he felt some discomfort in his right shoulder that slowed his rehab, and once he ramped up in earnest, he experienced discomfort in his surgically repaired Achilles tendon, which prompted exploratory surgery. Anthopoulos declined to go into much detail but noted that the Braves received “good news” on the right-hander.
With d’Arnaud out, young William Contreras has stepped up with a .240/.313/.460 showing in 112 plate appearances. His bat has cooled since a hot start, but that production tops the output from d’Arnaud in the season’s first month. Of course, the veteran was brilliant for Atlanta in 2020 — the first season of a two-year, $16MM deal.
If the team feels confident that Soroka, d’Arnaud and Ynoa can return at some point in August, that could lessen any temptation to allocate some of the prospect capital and financial resources to rotation upgrades or catching help. That’d make the bullpen and the outfield far likelier targets for outside additions. Braves relievers have a collective 4.77 ERA, which ranks fifth-worst in the Majors. Atlanta outfielders, as a group, rank 10th in the Majors with a 104 wRC+ at the plate, but nearly all of their production has come from Ronald Acuna Jr. Non-Acuna Braves outfielders are batting a combined .215/.294/.356.
The trade market out to feature various outfield and bullpen options — you can peruse our initial Top 40 trade candidate list for some ideas — but Anthopoulos generally hasn’t been shy about making upgrades on the trade market in the past. With the Braves, he’s made midseason deals to acquire Greene, Chris Martin, Adam Duvall, Kevin Gausman, Darren O’Day, Brad Brach and Mark Melancon. Last year was an unusually quiet deadline for Anthopoulos, but the Braves had a rather comfortable division lead and may not have wanted to expend many resources with only one month of games post-deadline and with an expanded playoff field.
Again, we’re probably weeks away from the Braves or any other club beginning to pursue truly meaningful additions to the roster — a reality Anthopoulos himself acknowledges while discussing a generally open-minded approach to this year’s deadline. The whole interview, which also covers Freddie Freeman, some early thoughts on Contreras’ play and myriad other roster issues, is well worth a full look. But the general takeaway that the Braves will have some financial leeway is an important one, particularly at a time when many other teams won’t have that luxury.
The Yankees, Astros and Red Sox, for instance, are all within $4MM of the luxury-tax barrier. The division-rival Phillies are just shy of $5MM away from the $210MM threshold, while the Padres clock in at about $6MM from the tax line. The Indians and Reds both made substantial payroll cuts over the winter; it’s not yet clear how much (if any) additional salary they’ll be willing to take on.
We likely won’t know the extent to which Atlanta can increase its bottom line. Anthopoulos, like an GM or team president, would never directly tip his hand. However, the very presence of extra resources and the fact that they’re nowhere near the luxury barrier ought to give them some advantage when looking to pry veterans away from other clubs.