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Braves Notes: Riley, Lopez

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Initial x-rays and a CT scan on Austin Riley’s right wrist and hand were “inconclusive” after the third baseman was hit by a Jack Kochanowicz pitch in today’s game with the Angels, Braves manager Brian Snitker told reporters (including Justin Toscano of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution).  Riley will undergo an MRI tomorrow during the Braves’ off-day, as Snitker said the team’s own medical staff wants to fully explore Riley’s status.

It could be viewed as an ominous sign that the first set of tests didn’t definitively say whether or not Riley had suffered a break or a fracture, but it also stands to reason that the club would want to be as careful as possible with one of its star players.  Since we’re in the middle of August, a more serious type of injury could end Riley’s season entirely, including both the regular season and whatever postseason run the Braves might yet enjoy.

Just getting to the playoffs has been a lot more difficult than expected for Atlanta, as injuries and an unexpectedly average offense have contributed to a lot of inconsistency.  The Braves are still 66-58 and in possession of the final NL wild card slot, but they hold only a two-game lead over the Mets for that wild card berth, and the Phillies remain seven games ahead of Atlanta in the NL East race.  After bursting out of the gates to an 18-6 record in their first 24 games, the Braves have since posted a sub-.500 record (48-52) while weathering season-ending injuries to such stars as Ronald Acuna Jr. and Spencer Strider.  The rest of Ozzie Albies’ 2024 campaign is also in jeopardy due to a fractured wrist, and both Jorge Soler and Travis d’Arnaud have been out of the lineup in recent days.

Riley also missed close to two weeks earlier this season due to an intercostal strain, though the Braves made the curious decision to not actually place him on the 10-day IL during that stretch, leaving the team short-handed for an extended period of time.  The injury contributed to a very slow start to the season for Riley, but his bat has come to life as the season has gone on, with 16 home runs and .275/.337/.531 slash line over his last 285 plate appearances.

Obviously there’s no easy way for the Braves to replace such All-Star levels of production if Riley is facing a lengthy IL stint, and it’ll be even trickier to fill Riley’s spot at third base now that the trade deadline has passed.  Luke Williams took over at the hot corner today, and such veterans as Leury Garcia and Zack Short are at Triple-A as additional depth.

As uncertain as Riley’s situation may be, some injury relief is on the horizon for the rotation, as Reynaldo Lopez was announced as the starter for Atlanta’s game on Tuesday, when the Braves start an important series against the Phillies.  Lopez will return after missing just slightly beyond the 15-day minimum after he was placed on the IL due to forearm inflammation on August 2.

Lopez’s start on July 28 was cut short by his injury, but tests revealed no structural damage.  While even less-serious types of forearm problems can linger, Lopez looks like he has been able to recover in pretty short order, and he got up to 71 pitches in a Triple-A rehab outing last Tuesday.

Signed to a three-year, $30MM free agent deal last winter, Lopez has excelled in his return to starting pitching.  Though he has worked almost exclusively as a reliever during the 2022-23 seasons with the White Sox, Angels, and Guardians, Lopez has posted a 2.06 ERA over 104 2/3 innings for Atlanta this season.  Between Lopez, Cy Young Award candidate Chris Sale, and solid performances from Max Fried, Charlie Morton, and rookie Spencer Schwellenbach, the Braves have limited the damage after Strider was lost for the year.

Braves Outright Parker Dunshee

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August 16: Dunshee went unclaimed on waivers and was sent outright to Triple-A Gwinnett, tweets David O’Brien of the Athletic. Since this is his first career outright, he’ll remain in the organization without carrying a 40-man roster spot. The Wake Forest product has the necessary minor league time to become a free agent in the offseason unless the Braves reselect his contract.

August 14: The Braves announced today that outfielder Michael Harris II has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list, as was expected. Outfielder Eli White was optioned to Triple-A to open an active roster spot while right-hander Parker Dunshee was designated for assignment in a corresponding 40-man move.

Dunshee, 29, just had his contract selected last week, his first time on a big league roster in his career. In Thursday’s game, Charlie Morton had a rough outing, allowing eight earned runs in 2 2/3 innings. Dunshee was sent in for some mop-up duty and ate up 2 1/3 innings but allowed five earned runs in the process. He was optioned to the minors the next day, meaning he’s currently sitting on an unsightly 19.29 earned run average in his very brief MLB career.

The trade deadline has now passed, so Atlanta will be putting Dunshee on waivers at some point in the coming days. Perhaps some club will be intrigued by his solid results in recent years, major league debut notwithstanding. Dating back to the start of 2023, he has thrown 112 minor league innings with a 2.81 ERA. His 10.3% walk rate in that time is a bit on the high side but he has struck out 29.4% of batters faced. He has a full slate of options and essentially no service time.

He was drafted by Oakland and was a somewhat notable starting pitching prospect a few years ago but his results tailed off as he hit the upper levels of the minors. He’s been in more of a relief role recently which seems to have led to better numbers and could perhaps lead to an upcoming waiver claim.

Atlanta will be hoping that the return of Harris is the spark that incites a turnaround. They have been dropping in the standings throughout the summer and are currently 63-56. That puts them four games back of the Padres and Diamondbacks, who are tied for the top two Wild Card spots in the National League. Atlanta still has the final spot but the Mets are just two games back and there are several other clubs within striking distance.

Much of Atlanta’s struggles have been related to injuries. Ronald Acuña Jr. is out for the year after yet another ACL tear, this time in his left knee. Ozzie Albies has been out of action for about a month due to a left wrist fracture and Harris has missed two months due to a strained left hamstring. That’s on top of several notable injuries to the pitching staff.

All that has led the club to turn to veteran fill-ins like Whit Merrifield, Ramón Laureano, Eddie Rosario and Adam Duvall. The first two have been passable this year but the other two have struggled significantly. Rosario has already been released but Duvall is still clinging to his roster spot despite a .178/.240/.315 batting line. Among big league players with at least 300 plate appearances this year, the only one with a worse wRC+ than Duvall’s 53 is Rosario.

Though Duvall is still holding onto his roster spot, Harris should be able to upgrade the team simply by taking his playing time. Before landing on the IL, Harris was himself struggling, having hit .250/.295/.358 for a wRC+ of 80. But he was hitting .295/.334/.494 for a 124 wRC+ coming into the year and even the slumping version of Harris would still be far stronger than Duvall’s season so far.

MLBTR Podcast: The White Sox Fire Their Manager, Víctor Robles Extended, And The Marlins’ Front Office

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The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

We had some technical difficulties during this recording, so the audio is of a lower quality than usual. Apologies for that, but the source has been discovered and everything will be back to normal next week. This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

Plus, we answer your questions, including…

  • Will Camilo Doval pitch again this season (or ever) for the Giants? (25:10)
  • What ever happened to Archie Bradley this season? (29:20)
  • Well, if your offense stops failing you, let the pitching failures take the spotlight! As a Braves fan, I am feeling quite trampled after all the high expectations that this season came with. Should I forget any postseason hopes? (31:00)

Check out our past episodes!

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff.  Check out their Facebook page here!

A.J. Minter To Undergo Hip Surgery

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Braves reliever A.J. Minter is headed for surgery to address a left hip issue, manager Brian Snitker told reporters (including Justin Toscano of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution). Snitker did not know whether the procedure will end Minter’s season, but that at least seems in question with less than two months to play.

Atlanta placed the southpaw on the 15-day injured list on Monday. It was the second time this year that a left hip problem had shelved him. Minter missed a month between the end of May and beginning of July. He pitched for six weeks before the injury required another shut down. Minter visited a specialist this week and that examination evidently revealed he’ll need to undergo surgery.

If this does conclude his season, it might also mark the end his tenure in Atlanta. Minter will be a free agent for the first time in his career next offseason. The Braves haven’t been afraid to invest in their bullpen, so perhaps they’ll make an effort to retain him. They already have Raisel Iglesias, Joe Jiménez, Pierce Johnson and (via affordable club option) Aaron Bummer under contract for next year. They’ll also need to make some decisions regarding their rotation and potentially look to upgrade on Orlando Arcia at shortstop.

A second-round pick in 2015, Minter has been one of the better setup options in the league over his career. He had a disastrous 2019 season but otherwise has allowed fewer than four earned runs per nine in every year. Minter has generally pitched in medium to high-leverage spots. He’s had another nice season when healthy, working to a 2.62 ERA across 34 1/3 frames. His 26.1% strikeout rate is down a bit from its 2022-23 level but remains a few points better than league average.

The Braves have Bummer and Dylan Lee as their two southpaws in the bullpen. Bummer has had a strong year after coming over from the White Sox in an offseason trade, striking out 28% of opponents with a 3.74 ERA. Lee has arguably been even better, working to a 1.96 mark while striking out nearly 27% of batters faced across 46 frames. That’s still a good duo, but losing Minter for the stretch run thins the middle innings mix at a time when Atlanta is clinging to a playoff spot. The Braves go into tonight’s matchup in San Francisco with a two-game cushion on the Mets for the final Wild Card position.

Braves Place A.J. Minter On Injured List

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The Braves announced today that left-hander A.J. Minter has been placed on the 15-day injured list due to left hip inflammation. Fellow lefty Dylan Lee has been recalled from Triple-A Gwinnett in a corresponding move.

At this point, it’s unclear how serious Minter’s injury is or how long the club expects him to miss, but it’s perhaps noteworthy that this is his second IL stint for this issue this year. He landed on the IL due to left hip inflammation May 31, missing just over a month before being reinstated July 1. Per Justin Toscano of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Minter is still undergoing evaluation for his current status and the club isn’t sure if he’ll be able to return this season.

Despite the hip issue, he’s managed to post good results when on the mound, as he has thrown 34 1/3 innings with 2.62 earned runs allowed per nine. His 26.1% strikeout rate is a few ticks below his rate from the previous two seasons, but he’s also getting more ground balls.

There might be a bit of good luck in that ERA as he has a .222 batting average on balls in play and 94.2% strand rate, which are both on the fortunate side. But his 16.7% home run per fly ball ratio is essentially double his rate from the two preceding campaigns. FIP gives a pitcher blame/credit for home runs, so that metric has Minter at 4.46 this year, far worse than his ERA. But a metric like SIERA, which normalizes home run rate, is more kind and has Minter at 3.39. That’s still a noticeable gap from his ERA but it’s not far off from the 3.06 SIERA he had last year.

Regardless of how one feels about Minter’s stats this year, it’s a rough development for the Atlanta bullpen. The relief corps should still be in decent shape without him, as the club’s relievers have a collective 3.38 ERA on the year that trails only the Guardians and Brewers. But they’re in a place now where incremental differences might loom large. Their recent skid has dropped them to 61-56, barely clinging to the final National League Wild Card spot with the Mets just half a game back and several other teams within striking distance.

Manager Brian Snitker has been using Minter in key situations. Minter is second on the team in holds behind Joe Jiménez and his average leverage index is third behind Jiménez and closer Raisel Iglesias. Subtracting Minter will make it more challenging for Snitker to navigate the ends of tight games. Lee has strong numbers on the year, with a 2.00 ERA in 45 innings, but mostly in lower-leverage spots.

It also could be a rough development for Minter himself, as he’s an impending free agent. He has a strong career track record with a 3.28 ERA over his 384 appearances with a 29.3% strikeout rate, 8.6% walk rate and 39.9% ground ball rate. But he’s already had one IL stint of over a month this year and another lengthy absence could tamp down his offseason contract offers. He’ll celebrate his 31st birthday on September 2.

Eddie Rosario Elects Free Agency

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TODAY: Rosario has turned down the outright assignment and elected to become a free agent, MLB.com’s Mark Bowman writes (X link).

AUGUST 10: Rosario has passed through waivers, and the Braves have outrighted him to the Triple-A Gwinnett Stripers, according to Justin Toscano of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. It is unclear if Rosario has accepted the assignment; the veteran outfielder has more than enough MLB service time to reject an outright assignment without forfeiting any salary.

AUGUST 8: The Braves announced Thursday that outfielder Eddie Rosario has been designated for assignment. His spot on the 40-man roster goes to right-hander Parker Dunshee, whose contract has been selected from Triple-A Gwinnett. Atlanta also optioned lefty Dylan Dodd to Gwinnett and recalled outfielder Eli White.

The 2024 season has been the worst of the 32-year-old Rosario’s decade-long big league career. He’s split the season between the Nats and Braves, tallying 319 plate appearances in spite of a disastrous .175/.215/.316 batting line — including a .154/.181/.282 slash in 84 plate appearances since being released in Washington and signing in Atlanta.

Rosario, the 2021 NLCS MVP has been in a free-fall at the plate for the bulk of the past four seasons. While a well-timed surge following a trade from Cleveland to Atlanta in ’21 helped fuel the Braves’ World Series win that year and set the stage for a two-year deal to return to Atlanta, that contract didn’t pan out as hoped.

Rosario spent the 2022-23 seasons drawing regular playing time when healthy, but he managed only a .240/.289/.408 output at the plate in those two seasons. The Braves declined a $9MM club option over his 2024 season, and Rosario lingered on the free-agent market into March before signing a minor league deal with the Nationals. He returned to Atlanta on another minor league contract after being cut loose in D.C., but he hasn’t been able to recapture any of that late-’21 magic. With the trade deadline now passed, Rosario will be released within the next couple days.

As for the 29-year-old Dunshee, he’ll be making his big league debut after grinding through eight minor league seasons and twice becoming a minor league free agent. Originally selected with the Athletics’ seventh-round pick back in 2017, the Wake Forest product spent six-plus years in the A’s system before being released last April and signing a minor league deal with the Giants for the remainder of the 2023 campaign. He latched on with the Braves on another minor league pact this past January.

Dunshee will now get his first crack in the majors, and he’s more than earned it. Splitting the season between Double-A (14 2/3 innings) and Triple-A (32 1/3 innings), he’s worked to a combined 2.30 earned run average with a massive 33.7% strikeout rate against a 9.2% walk rate. Dunshee is a fly-ball pitcher who’s been fortunate this season in the sense that he hasn’t allowed any home runs. That level of home run suppression isn’t sustainable for any pitcher, but Dunshee’s strikeout and walk rates create plenty of intrigue on their own, even with some regression due on the home run front.

NL East Notes: Harris, Laureano, Reid-Foley, Núñez, Alcantara

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Braves outfielder Michael Harris II went 3-for-4 with a home run yesterday, as the Triple-A Gwinnett Stripers fell to the Memphis Redbirds 8-2. He is now batting .421 with a 1.079 OPS over five rehab games. The 2022 NL Rookie of the Year has been out with a hamstring injury since mid-June, but if his performance at Triple-A is any indication, he certainly seems ready to return to the majors. Unfortunately for Atlanta, he is not eligible to come back until Wednesday when his 60 days on the IL are up.

Harris was off to a slow start over his first 67 games (.653 OPS, 80 wRC+), but he has always been a strong defender in center field, and he was an impact bat in the lineup in each of his first two big league seasons. He will be an immediate defensive upgrade over Jarred Kelenic in center, and if he can get back on track at the plate, his lefty bat will be a nice boost for the lineup. The Braves rank 21st in MLB with a 95 wRC+ against right-handed pitching this season.

Getting Harris back will be especially beneficial for Atlanta if Ramón Laureano’s heel continues to bother him. Laureano started in center field on Saturday but was removed from the game in the fourth inning with what the team described as “soreness in his right heel.” The outfielder appeared to hurt himself running out an infield single in the third, but he initially remained in the game. He came around to score on three consecutive walks. In the bottom of the third, he was involved in a misplay in shallow center field, in which four Braves defenders allowed a high pop-up to drop in between them for a double. It’s possible his sore heel caused him some trouble as he ran toward the ball. Laureano is batting .204 with a 75 wRC+ on the season, but he has looked much better since joining the Braves in mid-June, batting .269 with a 105 wRC+ over 26 games.

In further injury news from around the NL East…

  • Right-hander Sean Reid-Foley, 28, is nearing his return to the Mets, reports Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. The reliever will make a multi-inning rehab appearance with Triple-A Syracuse today. It will be his sixth rehab outing. The Mets have not offered an exact timeline for Reid-Foley, but DiComo describes him as “very close” to a return. However, Tim Britton of The Athletic provides a slightly different update, suggesting Reid-Foley “needs some time” to build up to pitching multiple innings. Regardless of the precise timeline, he should be back before the end of the month. The righty has been out since mid-June with a shoulder impingement. Prior to his injury, he was enjoying a mini-breakout season, with a 1.66 ERA and 3.99 SIERA in 21 2/3 innings pitched.
  • Reid-Foley isn’t the only 28-year-old right-handed reliever for the Mets nearing his return, as Dedniel Núñez will throw a bullpen session today (per Britton). Interestingly, Britton suggests that Núñez could make it back to the majors sooner than Reid-Foley. While Núñez is behind Reid-Foley in his rehab, Núñez has only been out since mid-July. He, too, has been enjoying a successful breakout season, with a 2.43 ERA and 2.23 SIERA in 33 1/3 innings pitched. The rookie was starting to pitch more high-leverage innings before suffering a forearm strain, and Britton says he will return to a late-inning role with the Mets.
  • Lastly, Marlins ace Sandy Alcantara is making progress in his rehab from Tommy John surgery last October. He threw a sixth bullpen session on Saturday, reaching 75% intensity (per Isaac Azout of Fish On First). While the 2022 NL Cy Young winner will not pitch for Miami this season, he seems to making good progress toward a return next spring.

Denny Lemaster Passes Away

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Former All-Star pitcher Denny Lemaster passed away late last month, according to an obituary from a Georgia funeral home. The former Braves, Astros, and Expos hurler was 85 years old.

A California native, Lemaster signed with the then-Milwaukee Braves shortly after graduating from Oxnard High School and made his pro debut in 1958. The southpaw wouldn’t make his big league debut until July of 1962 but pitched quite well for the Braves in 17 games, including 12 starts, with a 3.01 ERA in 86 2/3 innings of work. That audition during his rookie season earned Lemaster a more regular role in the club’s rotation going forward, and the lefty threw 237 innings during his first wire-to-wire big league campaign with a strong 3.04 ERA in 46 appearances, 31 of which were starts. He also launched two of his four career home runs as a hitter during that first full campaign as a big leaguer.

After his strong sophomore season, Lemaster took a slight step back in terms of results from 1964 to 1966 but was nonetheless a valuable source of innings for the Braves as they made the move from Milwaukee to Atlanta. Lemaster began to turn a corner late in the 1966 season with a 1.64 ERA over his final three starts of the year, including a three-hit gem against the reigning World Series champion Dodgers on August 9 where he managed to out-duel future Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax, striking out 10 while allowing just one run in a complete game against a lineup that included All-Stars Jim Lefebvre and John Roseboro. Unfortunately, Lemaster’s 1966 campaign would be cut short rather abruptly due to a pinched nerve that kept him out of action after August 19.

The lefty returned to the mound with a vengeance in 1967, however, and had a strong first half with a 2.82 ERA in 127 2/3 innings of work that included six complete games as well as a brilliant 13-inning performance in a 15-inning game against the Dodgers where he struck out 12 and allowed two runs, only one of which was earned. That performance was enough to make Lemaster an All-Star for the first and only time in his career, although he did not appear in that year’s All-Star game due to an injury. The southpaw threw just 87 2/3 innings during the second half, surely hampered by injury woes, and made his final appearance in a Braves uniform on September 22.

Following the 1967 season, Lemaster was dealt to the Astros alongside All-Star infielder Denis Menke in exchange for infielders Sonny Jackson and Chuck Harrison. Lemaster’s first two seasons in Houston went quite well as he pitched to a 3.00 ERA across a combined 69 starts totaling 468 2/3 innings of work. After struggling through the first half in the 1970 season, Lemaster was moved to the bullpen for the second half and remained in a relief role for the rest of his career. The lefty departed Houston following the 1971 campaign and finished his career with the Expos in 1972. He pitched in his final MLB game on June 21 of that year.

Across his 11 seasons in the big leagues, Lemaster posted a solid career 3.58 ERA with a 90-105 record while racking up 1787 2/3 innings of work and striking out 1305 batters. Following his playing career, Lemaster’s obituary indicates he worked as a custom home builder and developed a talent for woodcarving wildfowl.

Those of us at MLBTR extend our condolences to Lemaster’s family, friends and loved ones.

Minor MLB Transactions: 8/6/24

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The frenzy of moves before the trade deadline always has ripple effects of players being nudged out of their roster spots. 15 players were designated for assignment on deadline day and several in the days leading up to it as well. That has led to many recent waiver claims, with the Marlins claiming seven different players in the past two weeks. But they can’t claim them all, so here’s a round-up of some guys who passed through unclaimed recently.

As a reminder, players can reject an outright assignment and elect free agency if they have a previous career outright or at least three years of major league service time. Players need at least five years of service to both elect free agency and keep their salary intact.

  • The Diamondbacks released Miguel Castro, according to his transactions tracker on MLB.com. The righty signed with the Snakes heading into 2023 on a one-year deal with a vesting option for 2024. He reached 60 appearances last year and locked in a $5MM salary for himself in 2024. Unfortunately, his results have tailed off as he has a 5.93 ERA this year. That has come in just 11 appearances as he missed close to three months with a shoulder strain. He has more than enough service time to reject an outright assignment and keep all of his money. Another club could now sign him and pay him just the prorated league minimum for any time spent on the roster with that amount subtracted from what Arizona pays. He has a career 4.20 ERA in 419 appearances with the Blue Jays, Rockies, Orioles, Mets, Yankees and Diamondbacks.
  • The Pirates sent Ryder Ryan outright to Triple-A Indianapolis, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. This is his second career outright and he therefore has the right to elect free agency, though it’s not yet clear if he’s chosen to do so. The righty has an ERA of 5.00 in his 18 major league innings. He has thrown 27 1/3 Triple-A innings this year with a 4.61 ERA, 15.5% strikeout rate, 8.6% walk rate and 48.8% ground ball rate.
  • The Mets sent catcher Logan Porter outright to Triple-A Syracuse, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. It’s his first career outright and he has just a few days of service time, so he’ll have to accept the assignment. The backstop was signed just a couple of weeks prior to the deadline after opting out of his minor league deal with the Giants, which had been acquired from the Royals. He was hitting .319/.428/.575 for the Royals’ Triple-A club before the Giants acquired him, but then his results tapered off. The Mets were still intrigued enough to give him a 40-man spot but the other 29 clubs passed on the chance to grab him off waivers.
  • The Dodgers sent left-hander Nick Ramirez outright to Triple-A Oklahoma City, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. He has previous career outrights and therefore has the right to elect free agency. Acquired from the Yankees in early April, he spent most of the year on optional assignment. He logged 11 1/3 big league innings over seven appearances with a 6.35 ERA. In his 23 Triple-A innings since the trade, he had a 2.35 ERA, 20.9% strikeout rate, 3.3% walk rate and 54.5% ground ball rate.
  • The Braves have sent right-hander Darius Vines outright to Double-A Mississippi, per his transactions tracker at MLB.com. This is his first career outright and he doesn’t have the necessary service time to elect free agency. He has a 5.82 ERA in 34 big league innings between last year and this year. His 2024 output at Triple-A includes 77 innings over 14 starts with a 5.14 ERA, 16.6% strikeout rate, 6.7% walk rate and 40.3% ground ball rate.
  • The Cardinals sent right-hander Jacob Bosiokovic outright to Triple-A Memphis, per his transactions tracker at MLB.com. The righty had his contract selected at the end of June, his first time added to a big league roster, but was optioned a few days later without getting into a game. That means this is his first outright and he doesn’t have the necessary service time to elect free agency. He has 43 1/3 innings at Triple-A this year with a 4.15 ERA, 28.9% strikeout rate, 13.4% walk rate and 45.3% ground ball rate.

Braves Place Reynaldo López On Injured List

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The Braves announced that they have recalled right-hander Bryce Elder, who will start tomorrow’s game, per Justin Toscano of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on X. To open a spot for Elder, righty Reynaldo López was placed on the 15-day injured list with right forearm inflammation, retroactive to August 2.

López last took the mound on July 28 but left after three innings and the club later announced he was dealing with right forearm tightness. He was sent for an MRI that thankfully revealed no structural damage and the club was initially hoping the righty could avoid the IL. However, he still hasn’t thrown a bullpen since that start, per David O’Brien of The Athletic on X. It seems the soreness and/or inflammation aren’t receding as quickly as hoped and so the club put him on the shelf. Though he hasn’t pitched in almost a week now, IL stints can only be backdated a maximum of three days.

While it’s good that López isn’t facing some kind of season-ending surgery, it is still a notable challenge for the rotation. After working as a reliever in recent years, López moved into a starting role with Atlanta and was having great success with a 2.06 earned run average through 19 starts. His 86.1% strand rate has undoubtedly played a role in lowering his ERA but even his 3.18 FIP and his 4.05 SIERA suggest he’s been a serviceable starter this year.

The club still has Chris Sale, Charlie Morton, Max Fried and Spencer Schwellenbach but subbing in Elder or one of the club’s other depth starters for López is going to be a downgrade. Subtracting a pitcher with a 2.06 ERA would be less than ideal for any club but Elder has a 5.67 ERA on the year. That’s only nine starts and there’s a bit of bad luck in there from his .352 batting average on balls in play and 66.6% strand rate, but even his 4.23 FIP and 4.18 SIERA are a downgrade from López.

Even if one considers the drop from López to Elder manageable, it thins out the overall depth. AJ Smith-Shawver is having a poor year with a 5.40 ERA in Triple-A while Hurston Waldrep has been hurt and just allowed four earned runs over 2 2/3 innings in his most recent Triple-A start after coming off the IL. Ian Anderson is coming back from Tommy John surgery but has a 6.23 through three Triple-A starts so far.

Atlanta came into the season as the division favorites and started the season strong but they have fallen back this summer. They were 19-9 at the end of April but have gone 41-42 since then, leaving them at 60-51. That’s still good enough for the top Wild Card spot in the National League but there are three teams within two games and then another five clubs within seven games, making the grip on a playoff berth fairly tenuous at the moment.

Ideally, López will see be able to recover fairly quickly and make this a temporary issue, but the rotation will feel on the flimsy side until then. Sale is having a great year but missed most of the past four years due to injury and is now 35 years old, while Morton is well past his 40th birthday. Schwellenbach has been doing very well but still has just 11 major league starts under his belt. Fried just returned from an IL stint due to forearm neuritis but his first start back resulted in five walks and five earned runs allowed in 3 1/3 innings despite facing a hollowed-out Marlins lineup. The fans in the Atlanta area will undoubtedly be hoping for López to make a speedy recovery and return some time in the middle of the month.

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