- Braves backstop Sean Murphy has been ramping up baseball activities as he rehabs an oblique injury that sidelined him during the first game of the season back in March. Justin Toscano of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that Murphy had already been ramping up his throwing from behind the plate and caught a few bullpen sessions but has now progressed to swinging the bat, starting with him hitting off a tee during the club’s road trip to Seattle last week. The return of Murphy would surely be a major boost to Atlanta, as the 29-year-old has emerged as one of the best catchers in the sport in recent seasons. That said, veteran Travis d’Arnaud has done exceptionally well in Murphy’s absence, slashing an incredible .269/.341/.564 with a whopping five home runs in just 88 trips to the plate this season.
Braves Rumors
Braves Place Pierce Johnson On 15-Day Injured List
The Braves placed right-hander Pierce Johnson on the 15-day injured list due to inflammation in his throwing elbow. Johnson’s placement is backdated to May 1. Atlanta also announced that Jackson Stephens’ contract has been selected from Triple-A Gwinnett, and that to create 40-man roster space for Stephens, left-hander Angel Perdomo was moved from the 15-day IL to the 60-day IL.
Acquired from the Rockies prior to last season’s trade deadline, Johnson posted an 0.76 ERA over 23 2/3 innings for the remainder of the 2023 season, with a 36% strikeout rate and 5.6% walk rate to go along with that tiny ERA. Given those hugely impressive numbers, it isn’t surprising that the Braves moved to extend Johnson before he hit free agency, locking up the righty to a two-year, $14.25MM contract last October before Johnson hit the open market.
Johnson’s numbers haven’t been quite as outstanding in 2024, yet with a 3.00 ERA, 32% strikeout rate, and a 58.6% grounder rate, there’s still plenty to like about his performance. His walk rate has ticked back up to 10 percent, which is of some concern given how control has sometimes been a struggle for Johnson throughout his seven MLB seasons.
For now, however, the bigger concern is just getting Johnson back onto the field, though there isn’t yet any indication that his elbow problem is anything more than soreness. Johnson (who turns 33 next week) did miss most of the 2022 season due to forearm tendinitis, so his recent injury history does have a prominent arm-related issue.
The Braves’ deep bullpen should provide enough cover to withstand a relatively short absence for Johnson, but in the meantime, Stephens should receive his first MLB action of the 2024 season. The right-hander posted a 4.83 ERA for the Reds over 63 1/3 innings in 2018-2019 and a 3.56 ERA for the Braves in 65 2/3 frames in 2022-23, and spent the three seasons in between pitching in the minors, the Mexican League, and sitting out due to the canceled 2020 minor league season.
Stephens is out of minor league options, so he has been a frequent visitor to DFA limbo over the last year as the Braves had to continually designate him for assignment and then outright him in order to remove Stephens from the 40-man roster. While Stephens has used his right to elect free agency rather than just accept the outright assignments, he has then re-signed with Atlanta on a new contract. It wouldn’t be surprising to see this scenario play out again if Stephens’ latest stint on the 26-man is relatively short-lived, either due to Johnson’s quick return or if Atlanta cycles another fresh arm into the bullpen and Stephens is against the odd man out.
Perdomo underwent Tommy John surgery last October, so he was already slated to miss the entirety of the 2024 season. Surgery notwithstanding, the Braves claimed him off waivers from the Pirates last November (ironically, with Stephens getting outrighted as the corresponding move), cut Perdomo prior to the non-tender deadline, and re-signed him to a split contract in December. Since Perdomo is controlled through the 2028 season, the Braves are making a long-term bet on a reliever who had some pretty solid numbers for Pittsburgh in 2023.
Braves Acquire Jimmy Herget
The Braves have acquired reliever Jimmy Herget from the Angels for cash considerations, both teams announced. Atlanta had an opening on the 40-man roster after waiving David Fletcher last week. They optioned Herget to Triple-A Gwinnett, so no further move was necessary.
Herget has been with the Halos since 2021. Los Angeles inked the sidewinding righty to a minor league deal that August and selected his contract two weeks later. Herget logged 14 appearances with a 4.30 ERA down the stretch and held his spot on the 40-man roster. The South Florida product followed up with a career year in 2022. He tossed a personal-high 69 innings with a 2.48 ERA, striking out 23.7% of opponents against a tidy 5.6% walk rate.
A spike in home runs the following season led the Halos to shuffle Herget between Anaheim and Triple-A Salt Lake. He allowed 4.66 earned runs per nine over 29 MLB innings and turned in a similar 4.68 mark over 32 2/3 frames in the Pacific Coast League. The Angels overhauled their bullpen last offseason, pushing Herget back to Salt Lake to open this season.
The 30-year-old has made 10 appearances with the Bees, tossing 11 1/3 innings. He has allowed seven runs (five earned) on 10 hits. Herget has only issued one walk, but opponents have connected on four homers in the early going. The Angels designated him for assignment over the weekend when they selected Zac Kristofak onto the MLB roster. (Kristofak was himself DFA yesterday when the Angels selected Willie Calhoun.)
Herget is in his final option year, meaning the Braves can keep him in Gwinnett for the rest of the season without putting him on waivers. He owns a 3.47 ERA in 142 2/3 major league innings between the Reds, Rangers and Angels.
Atlanta has a strong relief group without much in the way of roster flexibility. Of the eight relievers in the current MLB bullpen, only one (Dylan Lee) can be optioned. Herget joins Ray Kerr and Daysbel Hernández on optional assignment, while Ken Giles and Jackson Stephens are among the non-roster bullpen pieces in Gwinnett.
Marcell Ozuna Hopes For Long-Term Deal With Braves
“There’s no way you want to go explore somewhere else when you feel comfortable, when you’ve got your teammates and you’ve got your organization’s love. There’s no doubt in my decision. I don’t want to go anywhere else,” Marcell Ozuna told The Athletic’s David O’Brien about his desire to sign a contract extension with the Braves. Ozuna’s four-year, $65MM deal is up at season’s end, though the Braves hold a $16MM club option for 2025 that looks like a sure bet to be exercised give how well Ozuna is performing at the plate. Coming off a 40-homer campaign in 2023, Ozuna has stayed hot by hitting .344/.419/.677 over his first 105 plate appearances in 2024, leading the National League with nine homers.
The idea of Ozuna remaining in Atlanta over the long term would’ve seemed far-fetched a year ago. The veteran struggled badly over the first two seasons of his contract, and that two-year stint also included an arrest on a DUI charge, and a 20-game suspension under MLB’s joint domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse policy. Since the Braves reportedly never considered parting ways with Ozuna in the wake of these issues or his lack of production on the field, it would stand to reason that the team would be open to some kind of longer-term commitment beyond just the club option year. Some obvious obstacles exist — Ozuna will be 35 in November 2025 and is essentially a DH-only player at this point in his career, plus Atlanta’s payroll is already at team-record heights in both pure dollars and in luxury tax value.
Braves Activate Ozzie Albies
The Braves announced Friday morning that they’ve reinstated Ozzie Albies from the 10-day injured list. The star second baseman is expected to be back in the lineup for today’s game. It’s a rather remarkable recovery for a player who spent just the 10-day minimum on the injured list after suffering a fractured big toe when he was hit by a pitch on April 15. Albies is returning to the club without a rehab assignment, though he took batting practice throughout the week.
Whether there’ll be any lingering effects remains to be seen, but Albies has gotten out to an excellent start in 2024. Through 15 games and 70 trips to the plate, he’s slashing .317/.386/.492 with a pair of homers, a pair of steals and just a 12.9% strikeout rate. If the foot injury doesn’t provide any more problems for him, he’s laid the foundation for an excellent follow-up effort to a career year at the plate in 2023, which saw Albies pop a personal-best 33 home runs and bat .280/.336/.513 in 660 plate appearances.
Atlanta won’t need to make any corresponding moves to get Albies back onto the roster. The Braves announced yesterday that infielder David Fletcher passed through waivers unclaimed and had been assigned outright to Triple-A Gwinnett. He’d been on the big league roster, so that paved the way for Albies’ reinstatement.
In 787 games since debuting with the Braves as a 20-year-old back in 2017, Albies is a .273/.326/.479 hitter with 133 home runs and 78 stolen bases. The three-time All-Star and two-time Silver Slugger winner is in the sixth season of a seven-year, $35MM contract extension he signed back in April of 2019. He’s earning $7MM this year and next, and the Braves hold a pair of $7MM club options on him for the 2026-27 campaigns.
Braves Outright David Fletcher
6:09pm: Justin Toscano of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports (on X) that Fletcher’s deal contains an advance consent form that allows Atlanta to send him to the minors. Even though he has surpassed the five-year service threshold, he would forfeit what remains of his salary if he elects free agency. He’ll therefore report to Gwinnett and try to play his way back to the majors.
1:50pm: The Braves announced Thursday that veteran infielder David Fletcher went unclaimed on waivers and has been assigned outright to Triple-A. Fletcher entered the season with 4.168 years of service time, meaning he needed only four days to reach the five-year mark. He accomplished that during his eight-day stretch on the 40-man roster, meaning he now has the five years of service needed to reject an outright assignment and retain his salary. He’s being paid a guaranteed $6MM this season and is still owed $6.5MM in 2025 and at least a $1.5MM buyout on a 2026 club option.
Fletcher, 29, appeared in five games with the Braves and tallied nine plate appearances, going 2-for-8 with a pair of singles. His subtraction from the 40-man roster likely signals the looming return of second baseman Ozzie Albies, who’s been on the injured list with a fractured toe but is expected to return to the active roster for this weekend’s series.
Fletcher came to the Braves amid a series of convoluted offseason trades that saw them effectively purchase Jarred Kelenic from the Mariners. Atlanta took on the underwater contracts of both Evan White and Marco Gonzales to get Kelenic, sending back righty Jackson Kowar (on whom they’d taken a flier in a trade with the Royals) and former second-round pick Cole Phillips, who’s yet to pitch since being drafted due to injury. Gonzales was traded to the Pirates, with the Braves absorbing three quarters of his $12MM salary. White was traded to the Halos for Fletcher and Max Stassi (on an underwater contract himself) in another financially-motivated swap; Stassi was then quickly flipped to the White Sox for a player to be named later. Atlanta covered all but the league minimum on Stassi’s remaining salary (a net of about $6.26MM for the Braves).
After all that, it’s possible Fletcher will now simply move on. The Braves initially appeared set to use the versatile, defensive-minded veteran as their primary utility infielder. However, Atlanta wound up instead signing Luis Guillorme to fill that role later in the offseason. Guillorme will now slide back into a bench role after filling in for Albies at second base, leaving Fletcher without a clear path to playing time. If he does reject the assignment, other teams in need of infield help could take a look at Fletcher and would only owe him the prorated league minimum for any time spent on the roster. That sum would be subtracted from what the Braves owe him.
Fletcher signed a five-year, $26MM extension with the Angels on the heels of a .298/.356/.395 showing from 2019-20 — a productive stretch at the plate during which he fanned at a tiny 10.1% clip and played superb defense between three infield spots (second base, third base, shortstop). He’s since floundered at the dish, however, batting just .259/.295/.326 in 999 plate appearances. Fletcher’s bat-to-ball skills have actually improved (8.6% strikeout rate), but his quality of contact has plummeted and rendered him an unimpactful player in the batter’s box.
MLBTR Podcast Mailbag: Cardinals’ Troubles, Jazz Chisholm, Bad Umpiring And More
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.
This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors for a mailbag episode. We spent the entire show answering questions from listeners, including…
- Which of the division leaders have the most or least staying power? (3:10)
- What does it look like if the Cardinals are selling at the deadline? (11:20)
- Do the Cardinals have a problem with coaching or player development? (18:50)
- When the Braves traded Marco Gonzales and Max Stassi, why did they trade for a player to be named later or cash when they were paying most of the salaries for both players? (22:35)
- Will the Marlins trade Jazz Chisholm Jr. if they are out of contention in July? (24:45)
- You’re designing a pitcher in a lab to succeed in today’s game and mitigate the likelihood of an injury. What is their profile and what pitches do they throw? (28:35)
- Why isn’t there more umpire accountability? (33:30)
- Why are the Pirates committed to hitting coach Andy Haines? (35:45)
- Compare the cost of a Falcon 9 launch to the Javier Báez contract. How much could the Tigers save? (38:55)
- Should the Tigers send Parker Meadows down and should the Giants release Mike Yastrzemski? (40:05)
Check out our past episodes!
- Free Agent Power Rankings, Shohei Ohtani’s Stolen Money And The A’s Moving To Sacramento – listen here
- Reviewing Our Free Agent Predictions And Future CBA Issues – listen here
- Baseball Is Back, Will Smith’s Extension, Mike Clevinger And Jon Berti – listen here
The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff. Check out their Facebook page here!
Spencer Strider Discusses Internal Brace Surgery
- Braves right-hander Spencer Strider won’t pitch again this season after undergoing an internal brace procedure on his UCL earlier this month, but he told reporters (including Justin Toscano of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution) earlier this week that he hadn’t actually torn his UCL. Instead, Strider noted that imaging revealed that a bone fragment had formed inside his UCL in the years since he first underwent surgery on the elbow back in 2019. Strider also revealed that he had been nursing discomfort in his elbow dating back to Spring Training, though at the time he attempted to pitch through it as it hadn’t impacted his velocity. The 25-year-old has emerged as one of the league’s most talented starters in recent years, posting a 3.36 ERA and 2.43 FIP in 318 1/3 innings of work between the 2022 and ’23 seasons. Atlanta has turned to right-hander Darius Vines to fill Strider’s spot in the rotation for the time being, though it’s possible another arm such as Bryce Elder or AJ Smith-Shawver could enter the mix for Strider’s starts at some point this season.
Braves Select Luke Williams
The Braves announced that they have selected the contract of infielder/outfielder Luke Williams, with outfielder Forrest Wall optioned in a corresponding move. The club had an open spot on the 40-man roster.
Williams, 27, is a versatile player who has bounced around the league in recent years. He was drafted by the Phillies and made his debut with that club in 2021. But in 2022, he went to the Giants, Marlins and Dodgers via small trades or waiver claims. The Dodgers non-tendered him after that season and re-signed him to a minor league deal. He made their roster during the 2023 campaign but then went to Atlanta via waivers. For a second straight year, he was non-tendered and then re-signed a minor league deal with the club that cut him.
While collecting all those jerseys, he also found time to play all four infield positions and all three outfield slots. He even threw one inning on the mound for the Dodgers last year. His 263 major league plate appearances have led to a batting line of .225/.281/.295, wRC+ of 60. That’s obviously subpar offense but he’s also stolen 17 bases in 23 tries and provides the aforementioned defensive versatility.
His offense has naturally been better in the minors. Going back to the start of 2022, he has hit .267/.356/.435 for a wRC+ of 97. That’s still a bit below average but it’s not bad for a guy who can swipe a bag from time to time while also wearing multiple different gloves. The combination is clearly appealing to teams, based on how many of them have acquired him in the past few years.
Atlanta recently lost Ozzie Albies to the injured list due to a broken toe, so their needs on the infield are a little higher than in the outfield. They have Luis Guillorme and David Fletcher on hand to cover second base but Williams can give them some extra cover there, while also potentially moving to the outfield.
Wall has been with the club all year but has barely played, as he’s been put into two games as a late substitution, only taking one plate appearance. The club has Ronald Acuña Jr., Michael Harris II, Jarred Kelenic and Adam Duvall taking regular playing time on the grass, with Marcell Ozuna as the designated hitter.
Rather than have Wall sit on the bench, it seems the club will send him to Triple-A for regular playing time down there. Williams can take over as the occasional pinch runner or defensive replacement while also giving the club a bit more infield depth. Williams still has an option so the club can decide to send him back down to the minors later without being exposed to waivers.
MLBTR Podcast: Free Agent Power Rankings, Ohtani’s Stolen Money And The A’s Moving To Sacramento
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.
This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…
- MLBTR’s 2024-25 Free Agent Power Rankings (1:30)
- Gerrit Cole didn’t crack the rankings due to his specific opt-out situation with the Yankees (6:30)
- The upcoming free agencies of Alex Bregman of the Astros and Pete Alonso of the Mets (9:20)
- Is there any scenario where Juan Soto of the Yankees is not the top free agent? (15:15)
- Ippei Mizuhara, former interpreter for Shohei Ohtani, charged with bank fraud (19:40)
- Athletics to play in Sacramento before moving to Las Vegas (32:40)
Plus, we answer your questions, including…
- How can a pitcher blow a save in the seventh inning? How early can a save be blown? (38:25)
- Do you think the Tigers will release Javier Báez? It is painful to watch him. (41:15)
- Who could the Braves target inside or outside the organization to replace Spencer Strider? (45:15)
Check out our past episodes!
- Reviewing Our Free Agent Predictions And Future CBA Issues – listen here
- Baseball Is Back, Will Smith’s Extension, Mike Clevinger And Jon Berti – listen here
- A Live Reaction To The Jordan Montgomery Signing, Shohei Ohtani’s Interpreter, And J.D. Martinez Joins The Mets – listen here
The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff. Check out their Facebook page here!
