Anthopolous On Struggling Braves’ Pen: “We’ll Ride It Out”
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
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.
East Injury Notes: Yankees, Braves, Mets
The latest on a few notable injury situations from the East Coast…
- Yankees outfielder Giancarlo Stanton has resumed baseball activities, but the club doesn’t expect him to return before rosters expand in September, George A. King III of the New York Post reports. Stanton has been on the injured list since June 26 with a sprained right knee – the latest ailment in a season packed with them for the former NL MVP. The 29-year-old slugger has collected just 38 plate appearances, but the injury-ravaged Yankees have persevered through his absence and many others en route to the American League’s top record (75-39). Key right-handers Luis Severino and Dellin Betances have accompanied Stanton among this year’s unavailable Yankees, though King explains that both pitchers continue to progress. Shoulder and lat problems have prevented either from throwing a single pitch in the majors this season. They could be crucial late-season reinforcements for a pitching-needy New York club that was unable to make upgrades at last week’s trade deadline.
- 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.
- The Mets sent outfielder Brandon Nimmo to the 60-day IL Thursday in a procedural move, though he could begin a rehab assignment within a week, Mike Puma of the New York Post tweets. After what looked like a breakout 2018 campaign, in which Nimmo slashed .263/.404/.483 with 17 HRs in 535 PA, he has struggled through injuries and poor performance this season. Nimmo hasn’t played since late May because of a bulging disk in his neck, and he limped to a .200/.344/.323 line with three long balls over 161 PA before then. Even without Nimmo, the Mets have gone on an improbable run over the past couple weeks to put themselves firmly in NL wild-card contention. Some of Nimmo’s fellow outfielders, including Michael Conforto, Jeff McNeil and J.D. Davis, have helped lead the charge.
Braves Place Austin Riley On Injured List
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
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
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.
Braves Release Luiz Gohara
The Braves announced today that they have released lefty Luiz Gohara. He had been dropped from the 40-man roster as part of the team’s series of deadline moves; obviously, he ultimately cleared waivers.
Gohara, who just turned 23, has shown quite a bit of talent but has been limited by health and personal issues in recent seasons. He has been sidelined all year long and is presently rehabbing a shoulder procedure that is expected to cost him the remainder of the campaign.
It has been a roller-coaster ride for Gohara and the Braves ever since he landed in Atlanta in early 2017. The burly southpaw turned in a superlative 2017 campaign, dominating in a spring through the minors and showing quite a lot of promise in a five-start MLB debut.
Entering the 2018 season, it seemed Gohara would help anchor the Atlanta rotation. But the youngster endured a difficult time emotionally that coincided with arm issues and a battle with his weight. The talent was still evident, but Gohara was not able to have the anticipated impact at the MLB level.
Accordingly, Gohara came into camp this year in search of a rebound. There was cause for hope at the outset, but his balky shoulder proved unwilling. No doubt multiple MLB organizations will show interest in helping the Brazilian hurler try to find his way back to the majors, now that there’s no need to place him on a 40-man roster to do so.
Braves Notes: Pitching, Greinke, Jackson
The latest from the ATL…
- While the Braves were heavily linked to the starting pitching market, GM Alex Anthopoulos told reporters (including Gabriel Burns of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution) that the team was “never even remotely close” to landing an arm for the rotation. “At the end of the day, where we thought there were deals that made sense for us, we felt like the bullpen made the most sense,” Anthopoulos said. “We definitely tried for other areas, but we obviously couldn’t line up on a deal that made sense for our organization.” Of course, the Braves already made a noteworthy starting pitching addition in June when Dallas Keuchel was signed, and Anthopoulos’ front office heavily bolstered the pen over the last two days with trades for Shane Greene, Mark Melancon, and Chris Martin.
- One of the starters the Braves had interest in was the biggest name moved at the trade deadline, as ESPN.com’s Buster Olney reports (Twitter link) that the “Braves were in on” negotiations about Zack Greinke with the Diamondbacks. However, Atlanta ultimately decided “it was just too pricey, and too much risk on an older pitcher.” The Astros ended up landing Greinke for a big trade package that included four prospects and covering $53MM of Greinke’s salary obligations.
- Speaking of the Greene deal, the Braves were able to make that trade without including catcher Alex Jackson, as Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press reports that Atlanta turned down the Tigers‘ ask for the 23-year-old prospect. Jackson is ranked as the the 26th-best prospect in Atlanta’s system by MLB Pipeline, and is in the midst of a huge season at Triple-A (.887 OPS in 283 PA). Picked sixth overall by the Mariners in the 2014 draft, Jackson’s prospect stock dropped after a slow start to his pro career, though a position switch to catcher three years ago and this season’s hitting breakout has gotten him back on the radar.
Minor MLB Transactions: 7/31/19
The latest minor moves from around baseball…
- The Braves have signed outfielder Lane Adams to a minor-league contract, according to Gabe Burns of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. It won’t be the 29-year-old’s first rodeo with the Braves; he played in 111 games with the club from 2017-2018, posting an overall .818 OPS in that span. His calling card is speed, having stolen 11 bases in his Major League career while not being caught once. There’s swing-and-miss in his game, though: playing in Triple-A with the Phillies’ affiliate, he’s struck out 103 times in 306 plate appearances. As Burns notes, general manager Alex Anthopoulos cited Adams as a player who could appear with the big-league team come September.
- In one of the day’s lesser trades, the Rockies acquired minor-leaguer Jimmy Herron from the Cubs in exchange for international bonus pool money, per an official Rockies announcement. Herron, a 23-year-old outfielder, was a third-round draft choice by the Cubs last season. He’s played his first full professional season with the Cubs’ High-A affiliate, appearing in 92 games. He’s managed a .220/.320/.336 slash line while stealing 19 bases. MLB Pipeline ranks Herron outside of Cubs’ top 30 prospects.
Braves Designate Luiz Gohara
The Braves have designated left-hander Luiz Gohara for assignment.
This isn’t much of a birthday present for Gohara, a former high-end prospect who turned 23 today. But health issues, including shoulder problems this year, have dogged Gohara. He hasn’t pitched at all this season, nor will he, having undergone arthroscopic shoulder surgery earlier this month.
When Gohara did take the mound from 2017-18, he totaled 49 major league innings with an unsightly 5.33 ERA. He did, however, log a far superior 3.47 FIP and post terrific strikeout and walk rates (9.0 K/9, 2.94 BB/9) during that span. Gohara spent the majority of last season at the Triple-A level, where he recorded a 4.94 ERA/4.45 FIP with 9.05 K/9 and 2.47 BB/9 in 54 2/3 frames.
Although he’s unavailable this year, it’s conceivable someone will take a chance on Gohara now that he’s in DFA limbo. After all, he’s young, controllable, optionable, and isn’t far removed from a run as a coveted prospect.