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Braves Rumors

Braves To Select Allan Winans

By Anthony Franco | July 20, 2023 at 6:23pm CDT

The Braves are turning to right-hander Allan Winans to start Saturday’s game in Milwaukee, reports Bob Nightengale of USA Today (Twitter link). He’s not on the 40-man roster, so Atlanta will need to formally select his contract within the next 48 hours.

Winans entered the professional ranks as a 17th-round senior sign by the Mets five years ago. He topped out at Double-A in the New York farm system in 2021. After that season, Atlanta nabbed him in the minor league phase of the Rule 5 draft. Winans spent the bulk of last year with Double-A Mississippi and has played at Triple-A Gwinnett for all of 2023.

The Campbell product has worked 102 2/3 innings over 18 appearances for the Stripers. He’s carrying a 2.81 ERA with decent underlying marks. Winans’ 22.3% strikeout percentage is nearly average, while he’s inducing grounders at a strong 49.6% clip and pounding the strike zone. His 6.3% walk rate is fifth-lowest among the 38 International League pitchers with 60+ innings.

At the start of the season, Eric Longenhagen and Tess Taruskin of FanGraphs noted that Winans relies on a sinking fastball and an above-average changeup. As a near 28-year-old rookie, he’s certainly not a top prospect, but his strong upper level performance was enough to overcome the very modest draft profile and get to the big leagues. Now that he’s securing a 40-man roster spot, he’s in the mix as a depth starter.

Atlanta’s 40-man roster is full. Unless the Braves anticipate Jesse Chavez missing another month, they don’t have an obvious candidate for a 60-day injured list transfer. They’ll likely have to designate someone for assignment when they bring Winans up.

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Atlanta Braves Transactions Allan Winans

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Braves Select Seth Elledge, Release Danny Young

By Steve Adams | July 19, 2023 at 10:20am CDT

The Braves announced Wednesday that they’ve selected the contract of right-hander Seth Elledge from Triple-A Gwinnett. In a pair of corresponding roster moves, Atlanta placed outfielder Sam Hilliard on the 10-day injured list with a right heel contusion and released left-hander Danny Young (thereby opening a spot on the 40-man roster). Young recently sustained a yet-unspecified injury that’ll end his season. Injured players cannot be placed on outright waivers, so the Braves’ choices with him were to call him up and place him on the Major League 60-day IL or release him.

Elledge, 27, opened the season on Atlanta’s 40-man roster but was designated for assignment in early April and bounced to the Mets and Tigers via the DFA circuit. Detroit designated him for assignment late last month, and the right-hander rejected an outright assignment after clearing waivers. He later returned to the Braves on a minor league deal.

While Elledge was hit hard with the Mets’ Triple-A affiliate this season, he posted solid numbers in Detroit’s system and has been excellent in Gwinnett for the Braves: 9 2/3 innings, 1.86 ERA, 34.4% strikeout rate, 9.4% walk rate. He’ll get his first big league look since posting a 4.63 ERA in 23 1/3 innings with the Cardinals from 2020-21.

Young, 29, appeared in eight games with the Braves and pitched to a sterling 1.08 ERA with a 31.4% strikeout rate and 5.7% walk rate in 8 1/3 innings. He’s been hit hard in 15 2/3 Triple-A frames, however, yielding a 6.32 ERA and walking 13.8% of his opponents.

It’s common in situations like this one for the player to ultimately re-sign with the organization on a minor league deal, though that’s certainly not a given. Young will have the opportunity to talk to the other 29 teams, perhaps latching on somewhere with a two-year minor league pact that’ll cover his current injury rehab and give that team — be it the Braves or someone else — control over his rights into the 2024 season.

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Atlanta Braves Transactions Danny Young Sam Hilliard Seth Elledge

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Braves Extend Travis d’Arnaud

By Anthony Franco | July 18, 2023 at 11:59pm CDT

The Braves announced they’ve signed catcher Travis d’Arnaud to a one-year, $8MM deal covering the 2024 season. The contract also contains an $8MM club option for the ’25 season with no buyout. d’Arnaud is represented by Wasserman.

Atlanta controlled d’Arnaud on an $8MM team option for 2024. They’ll preemptively trigger that provision. In exchange, the veteran backstop gives the team a matching option for the following year. It’s familiar territory for an Atlanta organization that has been very aggressive about signing players to extensions.

It is also a comfortable spot for d’Arnaud himself. He’s now signed a trio of contracts with the Braves over the past half-decade. He first agreed on a two-year, $16MM deal in free agency over the 2019-20 offseason. Midway through the ’21 season, he re-upped on a matching $16MM contract that contained the ’24 option. He’s now locked in for a fifth campaign at Truist Park.

Now 34, d’Arnaud has been an effective backstop throughout his time in the organization. He hit .266/.324/.462 over his first three seasons as a Brave. Catching wasn’t a need last winter, but the Atlanta front office seized on the opportunity to add a star catcher on the trade market. Atlanta acquired and promptly extended Sean Murphy, pushing d’Arnaud into a reserve role.

While he’s overqualified for a #2 catching position, the former All-Star has taken his new role in stride. d’Arnaud carries a .265/.338/.478 line with eight home runs through 151 trips to the plate on the season. He’s walking at a personal-high 9.3% clip and has maintained his previous contact and power production on a rate basis. d’Arnaud has gotten 27 starts behind the plate compared to Murphy’s 60 nods.

Despite the diminished role, he’s clearly happy in Atlanta. He’ll reprise his role as Murphy’s backup for at least one more season and potentially an additional year beyond that. d’Arnaud will soon surpass the 10-year MLB service threshold. The ’24 campaign will be his fifth in Atlanta. If the Braves keep him around for 2025, he’d have automatic no-trade rights that season as a 10-and-5 player (10 years of service, the past five of which have come for the same team) under the collective bargaining agreement.

That’s a possible longer-term consideration. For now, the move solidifies the catching position with a high-quality backup for a second year. Atlanta’s 2024 payroll commitments now sit around $138MM, as estimated by Roster Resource. Their projected luxury tax number is a bit under $159MM. The Braves opened this season with a franchise-record payroll estimated by Cot’s Baseball Contracts around $203MM.

With d’Arnaud officially off the board, the upcoming free agent catching class takes another hit. Unlike last year, where Willson Contreras was a clear candidate for a long-term deal, next winter’s group mostly consists of veteran depth types. Tom Murphy, Yasmani Grandal, Austin Hedges and Víctor Caratini are among the top names available. The Cubs hold a $6MM club option on Yan Gomes as well.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

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Atlanta Braves Newsstand Transactions Travis D'Arnaud

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Braves Place Kolby Allard On 60-Day IL, Select Forrest Wall

By Darragh McDonald | July 18, 2023 at 11:55am CDT

The Braves announced that they have selected the contract of outfielder Forrest Wall. In a corresponding move, left-hander Kolby Allard has been placed on the 60-day injured list, retroactive to July 17, with left shoulder nerve inflammation.

Allard, 25, came over to Atlanta in an offseason trade with the Rangers, with Jake Odorizzi going the other way. Allard suffered a Grade 2 oblique strain during Spring Training and began the regular season on the injured list. He was reinstated three weeks ago and has made four appearances for the club since then, but departed his most recent start with shoulder tightness.

The club hasn’t provided a specific timeline but it appears the issue is serious enough that they don’t expect him back in the next two months, given his immediate placement on the 60-day version of the injured list. That means he won’t be eligible to return until mid-September at the earliest, perhaps indicating his season is in jeopardy. It seems the trade won’t work out well for either side, since Odorizzi suffered his own shoulder injury during the spring and will miss all of 2023. It’s possible Atlanta could still come out ahead in the long run, as Allard has three more seasons of control beyond this one. Though given his injury and 6.10 career ERA, he could be a non-tender candidate this winter.

Allard wasn’t the most important player on the Atlanta roster but this is nonetheless the latest in a string of serious injuries for their rotation. He’s now the fourth starter the club has on its 60-day IL, alongside Huascar Ynoa, Max Fried and Kyle Wright. That leaves their current rotation mix as Spencer Strider, Charlie Morton, Bryce Elder and Michael Soroka. Strider and Morton give the club a strong duo at the front. Elder has been good overall this year but was rocked for seven earned runs in his most recent start. Soroka has a 5.40 ERA and might encounter workload limitations at some point after missing most of the past three years.

Fried is on a rehab assignment and could rejoin the rotation in the next few weeks with Wright potentially behind him, but it wouldn’t be a shock to see the club pursue some staring pitching in the weeks to come. In addition to the injuries to their regular starters, they’ve also seen depth pitchers like Allard and Ian Anderson drop out of the picture, the latter due to Tommy John surgery.  Dylan Dodd, Jared Shuster or AJ Smith-Shawver have had brief stints in the big leagues without seizing larger roles. Since the club has a strong lineup and bullpen, the rotation would be a sensible focus for them at the deadline.

As for Wall, the 27-year-old finally cracks a big league roster almost a decade after being drafted by the Rockies in 2014. He was traded to the Blue Jays in 2018 as part of the Seunghwan Oh deal but topped out at Triple-A in that organization. He signed a minor league deal with the Mariners last year but again didn’t get called to the show. Another minor league deal with Atlanta for 2023 has finally paid off with today’s promotion.

He’s now played in 290 Triple-A games across four different seasons, hitting a combined .259/.344/.373 in those. He doesn’t have much power, having never hit more than 11 home runs in a season, but he’s walking at a 13.5% clip this year. He’s also a proficient base stealer, getting over 35 in each of the past three seasons, including 52 last year and another 45 already this year. He’s capable of playing all three outfield slots.

Atlanta has a regular outfield of Ronald Acuña Jr., Michael Harris II and Eddie Rosario. Rosario has been dealing with some hamstring tightness of late, which could open up some extra playing time, though the club also has Sam Hilliard and Kevin Pillar on hand. Even if he doesn’t immediately carve out a regular role, Wall should be able to serve as a versatile bench piece who can pinch run or serve as a defensive replacement.

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Atlanta Braves Transactions Forrest Wall Kolby Allard

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Nationals Claim Roddery Muñoz From Braves

By Darragh McDonald | July 17, 2023 at 3:50pm CDT

The Nationals announced that they have claimed right-hander Roddery Muñoz off waivers from the Braves and optioned him to Triple-A Rochester. Atlanta designated him for assignment last week. The Nationals already had a vacancy on their 40-man roster so no corresponding move will be required.

Muñoz, 23, was an international signing of Atlanta out of the Dominican Republic in 2018 and worked primarily as a starter in subsequent seasons. In 2022, he tossed 100 1/3 innings between High-A and Double-A. His 4.66 earned run average in that time wasn’t especially eye-opening, but he struck out 26.9% of batters faced while walking 9.5%.

Atlanta evidently liked what they saw enough that they didn’t want Muñoz to get away in the Rule 5 draft and thus added him to their 40-man roster in November. He’s been transitioned into more of a relief role this year, tossing 39 1/3 innings over 22 appearances. He has a 3.89 ERA for the year across multiple levels, striking out 23.4% of opponents but walking 15.2% of them.

Those control issues seemingly led to Muñoz losing his roster spot in Atlanta, but he’s a sensible claim for the Nationals since they are rebuilding and can be patient with his development. He’s still young, has a full slate of options and has yet to reach the big leagues. If he can rein in his arsenal, he could be a long-term fit for the Nats. He was recently ranked Atlanta’s #22 prospect by Baseball America and #8 by FanGraphs.

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Atlanta Braves Transactions Washington Nationals Roddery Munoz

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Braves Place A.J. Minter On 15-Day Injured List

By Mark Polishuk | July 15, 2023 at 9:45am CDT

The Braves announced that left-hander A.J. Minter has been placed on the 15-day injured list due to left shoulder inflammation.  The placement is backdated to July 12, and right-hander Dereck Rodriguez was called up from Triple-A to take Minter’s spot on the active roster.

Minter left last Saturday’s game due to what was described by the team as left pectoral tightness, though the southpaw said he was feeling better just a day later.  It isn’t yet known if this shoulder problem was related to the pectoral tightness, or if this is a new injury altogether.  Regardless, the Braves will now be without one of their top bullpen arms for at least another 12 days.

The bottom-line numbers don’t really reflect Minter’s overall quality, as he has a 4.91 ERA over 40 1/3 innings this season.  Of his 22 earned runs allowed, 11 of them came over a disastrous stretch of 4 2/3 innings over five appearances in April.  Minter has a 3.04 ERA over 26 2/3 innings since that rough patch, and both his 2.88 SIERA and his largely above-average Statcast numbers indicate that he has been a lot more effective than his 4.91 ERA would suggest.

There isn’t yet any suggestion that Minter could miss a lot of time or that his shoulder problem is anything serious, though inflammation is something of a tricky injury to gauge.  Fellow Atlanta southpaw Dylan Lee has been out of action since mid-May with his own case of shoulder inflammation, and has been throwing some bullpen sessions as he works his way back from the 60-day injured list.

The league-leading Braves don’t have many overt weaknesses, but Minter’s absence could give the club something to address heading into the trade deadline.  With Lee sidelined, Minter and Lucas Luetge were the only left-handers in Atlanta’s bullpen, so southpaw depth was perhaps a need for the Braves even before Minter’s injury.  Braves president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos is typically aggressive at the deadline, and left-handed relief figures to be high on his list of targets as he looks to put the final touches on what looks like a World Series contender.

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Atlanta Braves Transactions A.J. Minter Dereck Rodriguez

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Braves Select Lucas Luetge

By Anthony Franco | July 13, 2023 at 7:24pm CDT

The Braves announced they’ve selected reliever Lucas Luetge onto the 40-man roster. Since he’s out of minor league option years, he’ll need to be added to the MLB club before tomorrow’s game against the White Sox. To clear a spot on the 40-man, the Braves designated righty Roddery Muñoz for assignment.

Luetge returns a month after being outrighted off the roster. The veteran southpaw had only made nine appearances after heading over from the Yankees in an offseason trade. He allowed 11 runs in 9 2/3 innings around a month-long injured list stint before being put on waivers.

After going unclaimed, Luetge reported to Triple-A Gwinnett. Doing so allowed him to retain the $1.55MM salary to which he’d agreed in avoiding arbitration over the winter. In a matching 9 2/3 frames with Gwinnett, he’s allowed four runs (three earned) with a quality 8:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

That secured him another spot in the MLB bullpen. Luetge joins A.J. Minter as the only left-handers in the relief corps while Dylan Lee is on the injured list. While the soft-tossing veteran struggled in his early-season look in Atlanta, he posted a 2.71 ERA and struck out a quarter of opponents with New York between 2021-22.

Luetge’s outright assignment was long enough he won’t surpass the five-year service threshold this season as originally scheduled. He’ll be eligible for arbitration two more times before hitting the six-year mark, but that could prove a moot point. If Luetge doesn’t perform well down the stretch, he’ll be a non-tender candidate next winter anyhow.

Muñoz, 23, has yet to make his MLB debut. He was added to the 40-man roster last offseason and briefly appeared on the big league club in June. He didn’t get into a game. Muñoz has spent the majority of the season on optional assignment to Gwinnett. He has a 4.28 ERA through 27 1/3 innings as a multi-inning reliever. Muñoz’s 22% strikeout rate is only a little below average but he’s walking over 15% of batters faced.

The control woes push the 6’2″ hurler off the roster. Atlanta will have a week to trade him or put him on waivers. If another club acquires him, they could keep him in the minors for the foreseeable future. Muñoz is in his first of three option seasons.

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Atlanta Braves Transactions Lucas Luetge Roddery Munoz

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Braves Claim Dalton Guthrie, Place Nick Anderson On 60-Day IL

By Steve Adams and Darragh McDonald | July 13, 2023 at 3:25pm CDT

The Braves have claimed outfielder Dalton Guthrie off waivers from the Giants, per announcements from both clubs. Guthrie has been optioned to Triple-A Gwinnett. In a corresponding 40-man roster move, the Braves placed right-hander Nick Anderson on the 60-day injured list with a shoulder strain. San Francisco designated Guthrie for assignment last week.

Guthrie, 27, was only just acquired from the Phillies three weeks ago but quickly lost his roster spot when the Giants added Mauricio Llovera to the roster. Guthrie made his major league debut with the Phils last year and hit .333/.500/.476 in 28 plate appearances. But in 28 more trips to the plate this year, he hit just .167/.286/.208. He’s generally hit well at the Triple-A level, slashing .296/.363/.467 between last season and this one for a wRC+ of 117.

He’s also shown some flashes of speed, including swiping 21 bags in Triple-A last year, though he was caught six times. He’s capable of playing all three outfield spots and has also lined up at the three infield positions to the left of first base. He still has a full slate of options, one of which he’s currently using here in 2023, and can potentially serve as a versatile depth piece for Atlanta for the foreseeable future.

Anderson, 33, has occasionally looked like an elite reliever but has frequently been waylaid by injuries. He posted a 3.32 ERA between the Marlins and Rays in 2019 and then dropped that all the way to 0.55 in 2020, striking out 44.8% of batters faced in the shortened season.

He would hardly pitch in the next two years, however. He was diagnosed with a partial tear of his UCL during Spring Training in 2021 and didn’t initially go under the knife. He tossed six innings that year but eventually underwent an internal brace procedure in October, which wiped out his 2022.

He was non-tendered by Tampa last year and landed with Atlanta. He has been having a nice bounceback season up until this point, making 35 appearances with a 3.06 ERA, striking out 25.5% of opponents while walking 6.4% and getting grounders on 41.7% of balls in play. He moved into a leverage role with Atlanta, earning 15 holds this year. However, the fact that he’s been immediately placed on the 60-day IL suggests that his shoulder strain is fairly significant. Anderson will now be ineligible to return until early September.

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Atlanta Braves San Francisco Giants Transactions Dalton Guthrie Nick Anderson

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Braves Sign First Six Picks From 2023 Draft

By Darragh McDonald | July 13, 2023 at 2:15pm CDT

The Braves have signed the first six players they selected in the 2023 draft, which took place earlier this week. Right-handers Hurston Waldrep, Drue Hackenberg, Cade Kuehler and Garrett Baumann have put pen to paper, as has shortstop Sabin Ceballos and outfielder Isaiah Drake. Details from Twitter courtesy of Jim Callis of MLB Pipeline and Carlos Collazo of Baseball America. Additionally, the club inked seventh-rounder Justin Long, per Collazo.

Waldrep, 21, was selected 24th overall out of the University of Florida. He will receive a signing bonus of $2,997,500, slightly under that pick’s slot value of $3,270,500. He made 19 starts for the Gators this year, tossing 101 2/3 innings with a 4.16 ERA. He struck out 34.7% of the batters he faced while walking 12.7%.

He was ranked the #14 player in the draft by both ESPN and Keith Law of The Athletic, #18 by Baseball America, #19 by MLB.com, with FanGraphs having him the highest at #6. The reports on him all reflect the stat line, in that they point to his excellent strikeout stuff but lack of command. His splitter is considered his best put-away pitch, often thrown below the zone for either a whiff or a ball.

Hackenberg, 21, was the club’s second-round pick, taken out of Virginia Tech. He’ll get a $2MM bonus, significantly above his $1,369,300 slot value. The righty made 15 starts for Virginia Tech this year, posting a 5.80 ERA in 85 1/3 innings, striking out 24.8% of hitters while walking just 6.5%.

Kuehler, 21, was selected 70th overall, using the compensatory draft pick that Atlanta received when Dansby Swanson rejected a qualifying offer and signed with the Cubs. He gets a $1.045MM bonus, just under the $1.0475MM slot. He made 13 starts for Campbell University this year with a 2.71 ERA, 29.3% strikeout rate and 8.4% walk rate.

Ceballos, 20, was taken in the third round out of the University of Oregon. He receives a signing bonus of $597.5K compared to a slot of $714.1K. He hit .333/.426/.643 in his 256 plate appearances this year. Baumann, 18, was selected in the fourth round out of a Florida high school. He’ll get $747.5K for his bonus, a bit above the $521.8K slot. Drake, 17, was selected in the fifth round out of North Atlanta High School. He’ll get the same $747.5K bonus as Baumann, but against a less slot of $367.5K.

Long, 21, was taken in the seventh round out of Rice University. He gets a bonus of $172.5K, beneath his $229.4K slot value. He tossed 45 2/3 innings this year with a 4.93 ERA, 18.9% strikeout rate and 8% walk rate.

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2023 Amateur Draft Atlanta Braves Hurston Waldrep

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Big Hype Prospects: Salas, Merrill, Yorke, Hence, Mayo

By Brad Johnson | July 10, 2023 at 7:05pm CDT

We missed a week while I was on the injured list (back spasms sustained while diving back to first base). There’s much for us to cover. Let’s start with some high-profile Padres. While the draft is tempting, let’s look in on those guys as they sign.

Five Big Hype Prospects

Ethan Salas, 17, C, SDP (A)
139 PA, 6 HR, 5 SB, .259/.381/.500

When we adjourned two weeks ago, Salas was batting .208/.340/.286 in 94 plate appearances. An 82 wRC+ isn’t anything to sniff at when we’re talking about a guy who’s 17-and-one-month old playing in full-season ball. Over the last two weeks, Salas hit .371/.467/.971. Including a HBP, he has as many free passes as strikeouts during the span. Of his 13 hits, he bopped five homers, four doubles, and a triple. That adds up to a 240 wRC+ for the hot streak and a 133 wRC+ on the season. If he keeps this up for long, he’ll find himself playing against High-A competition before the season ends. He’s “on pace” to debut as a teenager – a feat he can accomplish as long as he reaches the Majors before June 1, 2026.

Jackson Merrill, 20, SS, SDP (A+)
300 PA, 10 HR, 10 SB, .280/.318/.444

Salas’ future teammate had to grind through a rough April before turning a corner. The Midwest League is a difficult hitting environment. His first month of play consisted of a .188/.247/.338 performance. In the three months since then, he’s hit .317/.348/.487 while making steady improvements. Lately, he’s found a power stroke. Since June 14, he’s hit six of his 10 home runs. Merrill isn’t expected to be much of a power hitter. His carrying trait is an advanced feel for contact. He rarely meets a pitch with which he can’t connect. His discipline lags a bit, though it’s not as if he’s Javy Baez. An unsubstantiated theory of mine is that his early-season slump was the result of contacting too many pitches outside of the zone. The theory fits what data I have available, though I haven’t discussed it with anybody who would actually know.

Nick Yorke, 2B, 21, BOS (AA)
316 PA, 9 HR, 6 SB, .275/.361/.453

Folks weren’t sure what to make of Yorke’s forgettable 2022 campaign. The industry had a little chuckle when the Red Sox “reached” for Yorke in the first round of the 2020 draft. After a superb 2021 season, everyone adjusted expectations. Then 2022 happened. Some evaluators stuck with their updated outlook and blamed injuries. Others pointed to his subpar defense and wrote him off.

Yorke has rebounded this season – perhaps not enough to make up for his defensive shortcomings. His current 122 wRC+ depends upon a .353 BABIP. He also has 13.0 percent swinging strike and 25.0 percent strikeout rates. Historically, prospects with similar statistical performances have been prone to stalling out in the Quad-A bucket. For now, we should view Yorke’s rebound as a positive development. Perhaps more distance from his injury-riddled 2022 will lead to improvements in his quality or rate of contact.

Tink Hence, 20, SP, STL (AA)
(A+) 41.2 IP, 9.94 K/9, 2.59 BB/9, 2.81 ERA

Hence received a promotion to Double-A at the beginning of July. He also picked up a hold in the Futures Game. The pitching-needy Cardinals surely hope Hence can remain in the rotation. Alas, though he doesn’t walk many hitters, he’s not known for sharp command. His breaking ball is a weapon. It’s expected he should join the many pitchers who have mastered manipulating breaking ball spin for different effects. He doesn’t have a consistent changeup. Taken with the errant fastball command and history of brief outings, the relief risk is palpable. That said, Hence has yet to meet a challenge he hasn’t mastered. His Double-A debut was the first appearance of his career in which he faced more than 20 batters (22).

Coby Mayo, 21, 3B, BAL (AA)
347 PA, 17 HR, 4 SB, .307/.424/.603

With a 176 wRC+ on the season, Mayo is one of the top qualified hitters in the minors. He’ll play his next game in Triple-A, ending a nearly 500-plate appearance stint in Double-A. Mayo has traits grounded in the 2019 juiced ball era. He’s a pull-oriented slugger who generates plenty of loft. As a right-handed hitter, he’s not an ideal fit for Camden Yards. However, his power is such that he could overcome the home field limitations. It will be interesting to see if Mayo can continue to run elevated BABIPs into the Majors as this is a hitting profile typically associated with low BABIPs. Hypothetically, if a franchise-altering talent is made available at the trade deadline, Mayo would go a long way toward securing a deal. They’ll eventually have to trade somebody they like.

Three More

Johan Rojas, PHI (22): The Phillies are angling to get Kyle Schwarber into the DH slot. The plan would involve Cristian Pache in center and Brandon Marsh in left. If Pache doesn’t work out, Rojas has a similar reputation as a superlative defender who might hit enough to create a lot of value. In 354 Double-A plate appearances, Rojas is batting .306/.361/.484 with nine homers and 30 steals. He’s on the 40-man roster.

River Ryan, LAD (24): The latest pitcher to pop in the Dodgers system, Ryan features a promising four-pitch repertoire. In the month of June, he tossed two five-inning no-hitters. His command hasn’t been particularly sharp. Even across those two no-nos, Ryan issued four walks and hit three batters. It’s thought he’ll eventually develop better command. If not, he has a relief floor.

Ignacio Alvarez, ATL (20): A ripped shortstop who recently turned 20, Alvarez evokes Yandy Diaz right down to the comical biceps, low-angle contact, discipline, and rare whiffs. The comparison is hard to avoid. He might just be the next Brave to skip the line to the Majors. He generally keeps the ball on the ground with an all-fields approach. He’s expected to eventually move to third base, though he remains passable at shortstop for now.

Did I miss a detail or nuance? DM me on Twitter @BaseballATeam to suggest corrections.

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Atlanta Braves Baltimore Orioles Big Hype Prospects Boston Red Sox Los Angeles Dodgers MLBTR Originals Philadelphia Phillies San Diego Padres St. Louis Cardinals Coby Mayo Ethan Salas Ignacio Alvarez Jackson Merrill Johan Rojas Nick Yorke River Ryan Tink Hence

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