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Braves Considering Signing Adeiny Hechavarria

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The Braves are contemplating a move to sign veteran shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria, according to Jon Heyman of MLB Network (via Twitter). Hechavarria evidently cleared release waivers earlier this afternoon.

It’s not surprising that Hechavarria was not claimed. He was earning at a fairly hefty $3MM rate. And his deal included big bonuses ($1MM apiece at 100 and 150 days on the active roster) that were close at hand when he was cut loose by the Mets. A claiming team would’ve stepped into those obligations.

The 30-year-old did not hit much in limited action in New York. Over 151 plate appearances, he carried a .204/.252/.359 slash with five home runs. Hechavarria has yet to finish a season in shouting distance of league-average offensive production and owns a lifetime .252/.288/.346 batting line.

That said, Hechavarria has long been regarded as a high-end infield defender. He’d help the Braves fill in for the injured Dansby Swanson. Though Charlie Culberson and Johan Camargo are both capable of playing shortstop, neither has Hechavarria’s reputation for sterling glovework. Camargo has also endured a brutal season at the plate.

Braves Sticking With Camargo Despite Struggles

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  • The Braves plan to stick with infielder Johan Camargo despite his considerable struggles at the plate and with the glove, writes Gabe Burns of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Camargo’s playing time has increased with Dansby Swanson shelved, but the 25-year-old has turned in a career-worst .222/.268/.344 batting line through 236 plate appearances this season. And while he’s previously rated as a standout defender at third base and a passable option at shortstop, he’s had some glaring defensive miscues this season (including six errors in 320 total innings of defense after making just 13 in nearly 1100 innings a year ago). Camargo’s hard-hit rate, exit velocity and launch angle have all dipped in 2019 — so much so that Statcast doesn’t feel he’s been the victim of much poor luck. (His .262 wOBA only narrowly trails his .268 xwOBA.) Both manager Brian Snitker and GM Alex Anthopoulos acknowledged the struggles. “I don’t know that anyone knows what the answer is,” said Anthopoulos when discussing the root of Camargo’s struggles.

Latest On Austin Riley, Dansby Swanson

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The partially torn right LCL that sent Braves third baseman/corner outfielder Austin Riley to the injured list last week will not require surgery, Mark Bowman of MLB.com was among those to report. Now that his season will continue, Riley’s hoping to start a minor league rehab assignment two weeks from now, according to Bowman.

The 22-year-old Riley joined the Braves in the middle of May, at which point he ranked as one of baseball’s 50 best prospects. Riley, whose promotion came in response to an injury to outfielder Ender Inciarte, began his career in excellent fashion. He owned an OPS upward of .900 as of the end of June, though Riley has come crashing to earth more recently. He’s now a .242/.294/.504 hitter with 17 home runs through his first 255 plate appearances, during which he has fanned in 35.3 percent of trips and walked in just over 5 percent.

With Josh Donaldson holding down third and right fielder Nick Markakis on the IL, the Riley-less Braves have been going with Adam Duvall in left, Inciarte in center and superstar Ronald Acuna Jr. in right. Inciarte has performed well dating back to his return July 18, while Duvall’s numbers have plummeted since a red-hot start after the Braves promoted him from Triple-A Gwinnett toward the end of last month.

The Braves’ infield, meanwhile, has been making do without shortstop Dansby Swanson since July 27 because of a heel issue. There’s still no timetable for his return, per Bowman, while David O’Brien of The Athletic adds that he’s not able to do much of anything in terms of baseball activities at this point. Doctors have told Swanson the injury isn’t something he’d be able to play through. It’s especially unfortunate considering the former No. 1 overall pick was enjoying a career season before he landed on the shelf. The 25-year-old has slashed .265/.330/.468 (103 wRC+) with 17 homers and seven steals over 431 trips to the plate.

Atlanta has replaced Swanson with a combination of Johan Camargo and Charlie Culberson. Camargo has endured a dreadful year after what looked like a breakout 2018, while Culberson’s still-impressive output has declined since he took on a greater role. Nevertheless, the Braves continue to hold a six-game lead in the National League East.

Braves Select Rafael Ortega

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The Braves announced that they have selected the contract of Rafael Ortega. He’ll head onto the active roster, with righty Patrick Weigel optioned to make way.

Ortega, 28, joined the Atlanta organization on a minor-league pact before the season. The left-handed-hitter, who has appeared in parts of three prior MLB campaigns, carries a .285/.373/.524 batting line (126 wRC+) in 493 plate appearances at Triple-A.

It’s not clear whether Ortega is seen as a potentially permanent solution or a temporary fill-in, but his promotion reflects the fact that the Braves are in a bit of an outfield pickle. The club lost Nick Markakis just before the trade deadline and isn’t sure whether or when he’ll return. Having foregone the chance to add a significant player from outside the organization, the club is now left with what is has on hand and what it can procure through the limitations of the August acquisition period.

At one point, it seemed the Braves were set with a three-man outfield unit featuring Markakis, superstar Ronald Acuna, and rookie Austin Riley. Many even felt the club should jettison Ender Inciarte when he returned from the injured list. As it turns out, Markakis and Riley are now shelved with injuries; the latter had struggled mightily for a lengthy stretch before hitting the IL.

For a moment, it looked as if Adam Duvall would be the solution. He started with a six-game hot streak but has been dreadful in his ten ensuing games. There’s still hope that he can contribute, but it’s far from a certainty. Much the same holds for utilityman Johan Camargo, who has scuffled since a hot July. The Braves might’ve utilized Charlie Culberson in the outfield, but he’s filling in at short for the injured Dansby Swanson. Matt Joyce is still on the roster — indeed, he’s in the lineup tonight — but the club has elected to utilize him mostly as a bench bat. (He has played just 64 1/3 innings in the field.)

Despite the increasing uncertainty, the Braves’ lineup has had no trouble pushing runs across the plate, having outscored all but five other teams in the past thirty days. And the club has managed to stay out in front of the trailing pack in the division. While the Nats, Mets, and (if they can gather themselves) Phillies are threats to mount a charge, they’re still decided underdogs. But the Braves can’t sleep on their lead — six games, entering play today — and will obviously also want to fine tune their outfield mix (among other question areas) in advance of the postseason.

Anthopolous On Struggling Braves’ Pen: “We’ll Ride It Out”

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The Braves felt they had sorted out their bullpen issues with a trio of trade-deadline acquisitions, but it hasn’t turned out that way. Jeff Schultz of The Athletic (subscription link) recently examined the situation, featuring the thoughts of GM Alex Anthopoulos.

More than anything, the Atlanta roster architect suggested, the difficulties are simply a rough section of the sample-size roller-coaster. “I just think it’s a two-week period and guys aren’t performing at their best,” he says. Anthopoulos says that the club would not “just ignore it” if a player was not performing over a longer stretch, but suggested the organization doesn’t yet feel that point has been reached.

It’d obviously be foolish for the Braves to give up on their three new relief arms — Shane Greene, Chris Martin, and Mark Melancon. Greene was solid all year long before he became the club’s key acquisition. The other two have produced sparkling K/BB and groundball numbers in Atlanta. It’s equally difficult to ignore just how rough the results have been. Through a dozen cumulative frames, each of those three hurlers has allowed more than an earned run for every inning thrown.

“We’ll continue to work and do what we can to get everybody on track,” says Anthopoulos. “But at this point, we’ll ride it out.”

As Schultz rightly notes, there isn’t much of an alternative now that the calendar has flipped to August. But the org does have a few potential avenues to get better. Waiver claims are perhaps the most promising. We’ve seen the Reds add multiple big-league pieces through that mechanism — including former Atlanta righty Kevin Gausman.

True, the Braves won’t likely land any players that look like especially good values. Should such an asset hit the wire, another pitching-needy organization with a higher waiver priority will likely snap it up. But shedding Gausman did draw down the Atlanta payroll by about $2.8MM. That bit of good fortune could theoretically allow the organization to look past value concepts and take a more aggressive waiver-wire stance, particularly since some other contenders may be tapped out financially. Whether a worthwhile opportunity will arise remains to be seen.

Braves To Install Mark Melancon As Closer

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The Braves will install veteran righty Mark Melancon as their closer, manager Brian Snitker told reporters including Gabe Burns of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (via Twitter). He finished out tonight’s game, though it did not come in a save situation.

Melancon was one of three veteran relievers acquired by the Atlanta organization at the trade deadline. At the time, it did not seem terribly likely he’d receive a shot at ninth-inning work. Shane Greene took the inside track to the gig, with fellow newcomer Chris Martin and incumbent Luke Jackson also potentially in the mix.

Things have changed rather quickly. Greene and Martin have been shaky. The Braves don’t want to turn things back over to Jackson. And Melancon has been steady. It’s only a handful of outings, but the Atlanta org is obviously looking for a steadying presence. Perhaps it shouldn’t be seen as a surprise that the experienced late-inning hand has already grasped the reins.

Melancon hasn’t functioned as a steady closer since early in the 2017 season, but he has racked up 183 career saves. Though he has been more steady than dominant of late, carrying a 3.29 ERA with 7.9 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9 since the start of the 2018 season, the 34-year-old surely won’t be cowed by the prospect of handling the high-leverage spots.

It’ll be interesting to see how the Braves’ late-inning relief situation shakes out down the stretch. Snitker did not commit to permanently utilizing Melancon in the closer’s role, though he did indicate that the veteran will be trusted with the job for some time to come. The club is obviously willing to switch things up on the fly, but will presumably hope to settle into some kind of established approach before the postseason arrives.

Dansby Swanson Not Nearing Return

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  • The Braves still have no timetable for the return of shortstop Dansby Swanson, manager Brian Snitker said Thursday (via David O’Brien of The Athletic). Swanson has been dealing with a heel issue for more than two weeks, which has primarily left short to Johan Camargo in his stead. Unfortunately for the Braves, though, Camargo has put up a year to forget. Since Swanson went down, Camargo has seen his already weak batting line drop to .217/.267/.333 in 222 plate appearances this season. On the other hand, Swanson was hitting a career-high .265/.330/.468 with 17 home runs in 431 PA when he hit the injured list.

Braves Place Austin Riley On Injured List

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4:12pm: Riley has suffered a partially-torn LCL, manager Brian Snitker told reporters (including Gabe Burns of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution).  Riley is set to visit Dr. James Andrews on Monday to determine the full extent of the injury.

TODAY, 12:50pm: The Braves announced that Riley has been placed on the IL with a sprained right knee. No timetable for his return was provided. Right-hander Jeremy Walker is up from Triple-A in his place.

Aug. 7: The Braves will place third baseman/left fielder Austin Riley on the 10-day injured list due to an injured ligament in his right knee, David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution tweets. Riley sustained the injury in the weight room this week but didn’t initially believe it to be serious. His knee stiffened overnight, however, and he’ll undergo some testing to determine the extent of the issue. Atlanta will announce a corresponding move (and perhaps further details on the injury) tomorrow.

Riley, 22, debuted to great fanfare in Atlanta earlier this season and quickly established himself as a serious power threat in the Braves’ lineup. He’s homered 17 times in 255 plate appearances, but his considerable pop has been overshadowed by alarming contact issues of late.

Riley batted .298/.336/.628 with 11 homers in his first 30 big league games (128 plate appearances) but did so with a 32 percent strikeout rate, a .362 average on balls in play and a 29.7 percent homer-to-flyball ratio that’d currently rank fifth in MLB behind Nelson Cruz, Christian Yelich, Pete Alonso and Franmil Reyes if sustained. Suffice it to say, his instant success was impressive but didn’t appear likely to be fully maintained. A drop of this magnitude, however, wasn’t exactly foreseeable itself. Over his past 127 trips to the dish, Riley has batted just .183/.252/.374 with a strikeout rate of nearly 39 percent.

With his injury, the Braves will rely on a primary outfield trio of Adam Duvall in left, Ender Inciarte in center and Ronald Acuna Jr. in right field, with Matt Joyce serving as the fourth outfielder. Charlie Culberson figures to be the primary backup to both Josh Donaldson at third base and Johan Camargo at shortstop. Dansby Swanson is also on the injured list at the moment and is not yet ready to be activated, O’Brien tweets.

Braves To Sign Lucas Duda

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The Braves have agreed to a minors deal with first baseman Lucas Duda, according to Jon Heyman of MLB Network (via Twitter). The Roster Roundup Twitter account first connected the sides.

Duda, 33, will seek to reprise the role he played late last year in Atlanta, when he provided some bench punch in September. He’ll begin by trying to get his swing in form at Triple-A.

This has been a season to forget so far for the veteran slugger. Given a limited role in Kansas City, Duda failed to earn more opportunities. Ultimately, he limped to a .171/.252/.324 batting line in 119 plate appearances for the Royals. He was cut loose recently when the team couldn’t find a trade taker.

Reds Claim Kevin Gausman

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1:00pm: The teams have announced the move. Atlanta also announced that Mike Foltynewicz is up from Triple-A Gwinnett, so he’ll take Gausman’s spot in the rotation.

12:25pm: The Reds have claimed right-hander Kevin Gausman off outright waivers from the Braves, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN.com (via Twitter). That’s not to be mistaken with the now-defunct revocable August trade waivers, to be clear. The claim means that Gausman is now a member of the Reds, who by claiming him are agreeing to take on the remainder of the right-hander’s $9.35MM salary — a sum of about $2.815MM between now and season’s end.

Cincinnati is obviously banking on a return to form following a change of scenery, as Gausman is mired in the worst season of his big league career. The former No. 4 overall draft pick (Orioles, 2012) joined Atlanta last season in a deadline trade that saw Atlanta take on the remainder of Darren O’Day’s salary while also shipping out international bonus allotments and minor leaguers Brett Cumberland, JC Encarnacion, Bruce Zimmermann and Evan Phillips.

Gausman performed admirably down the stretch in 2018 and was a big part of the Braves’ rotation (2.87 ERA in 59 2/3 innings), but he’s been among the league’s least effective pitchers in 2019. Through 80 innings, he’s pitched to a 6.19 earned run average with 9.6 K/9, 3.0 BB/9, 1.35 HR/9 and a career-low 37 percent ground-ball rate.

There’s little denying that Gausman has had his share of poor fortune in 2019. His .345 average on balls in play is well north of both his career mark (.313) and the league average (.299), and his 59.3 percent strand rate appears fluky and due for some positive regression toward his lifetime mark of 74.1 percent. Fielding-independent metrics peg him as a candidate for considerable improvement (4.20 FIP, 4.40 SIERA, 4.47 xFIP).

Gausman’s average fastball velocity (93.8 mph) is down from its 95 mph peak, however, and he’s allowing line drives at a career-worst 24.7 percent clip. Opposing hitters are barreling up Gausman’s offerings at a higher rate than ever before, per Statcast, and the increased number of hard-hit balls in the air has come back to bite him.

The Reds don’t appear to have an immediate need for starting pitching, with Luis Castillo, Trevor Bauer, Sonny Gray, Anthony DeSclafani and Alex Wood all in the rotation at the moment. It’s possible that Cincinnati could utilize Gausman out of the bullpen or deploy a six-man rotation to keep their arms fresh down the stretch.

The move could very well have been made with an eye toward 2020 as well — as was the case with their acquisition of Bauer. Gausman is controllable via arbitration for the third and final time this winter, although at present he looks like a potential non-tender candidate. Still, perhaps a strong showing to the season will convince the Cincinnati front office that Gausman is deserving of the $10MM+ salary he’d command in arbitration this offseason. If he is able to return to form, Gausman would slot in fourth behind the formidable trio of Bauer, Castillo and Gray.

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