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Joel De La Cruz

Braves Agree To Minor League Deal With Joel De La Cruz

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The Braves have re-signed right-hander Joel De La Cruz to a minor league contract after outrighting him last week, according to Baseball America’s Matt Eddy.

De La Cruz, 27, signed a minor league deal with Atlanta last offseason after spending the bulk of his professional career in the Yankees’ minor league ranks. The 2016 season saw De La Cruz make his big league debut, and the Dominican-born righty wound up pitching a fairly substantial 62 2/3 innings for the Braves. Splitting time between the rotation and the bullpen, De La Cruz posted a 4.88 ERA with 5.3 K/9, 3.2 BB/9 and a 43.1 percent ground-ball rate. Per PITCHf/x data, Cruz averaged 91.3 mph on a sinker that he threw at a 51 percent clip, and he also utilized both a slider and a changeup.

In parts of three seasons at the Triple-A level, De La Cruz has a 4.15 ERA in 184 1/3 innings to go along with 5.4 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9. This past season, he worked to a 4.68 ERA with Triple-A Gwinnett and posted a 47.3 percent ground-ball rate. De La Cruz will serve as a depth option for an Atlanta rotation that is currently rife with question marks. Julio Teheran figures to anchor the staff next season, and the Braves also have Mike Foltynewicz, Matt Wisler, Aaron Blair, Josh Collmenter, Williams Perez, Tyrell Jenkins and John Gant as internal options to round out the starting mix. GM John Coppolella has said that he’ll look to add a pair of Major League starters to complement that group, so De La Cruz could face an uphill battle when it comes to returning to the big league rotation, though he’ll make a handy depth option for the relief corps as well.

Braves Outright De La Cruz, Lalli, Snyder

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The Braves have outrighted reliever Joel De La Cruz, catcher Blake Lalli and first baseman Brandon Snyder off their 40-man roster, according to Baseball America’s Matt Eddy. Each of the three can and very likely will become minor league free agents this offseason.

Signed to a minor league pact this offseason, the 27-year-old De La Cruz made his big league debut with Atlanta in 2016 and wound up tossing a fairly substantial 62 2/3 innings for the Braves across nine starts and 13 relief appearances. In that time, De La Cruz worked to a 4.88 ERA with 5.3 K/9, 3.2 BB/9 and a 43.1 percent ground-ball rate. The longtime Yankees farmhand, who has also spent time in the Brewers and Nationals organizations, averaged 91.3 mph on a sinker he threw for just over half of his offerings, per PITCHf/x data, also working in a slider and a changeup. Neither De La Cruz’s Major League nor minor league numbers stand out, but his 4.15 ERA in parts of three seasons (184 1/3 innings) at the Triple-A level is an identical match with his career 4.15 ERA across five minor league levels, so he can function as a serviceable depth piece in a club’s Triple-A rotation or bullpen.

The 33-year-old Lalli, meanwhile, returned to the Majors for the first time since 2013 and picked up 13 plate appearances with a pair of hits. He’s seen parts of three seasons in the Majors, though he has just 53 plate appearances and a .305 OPS in that time. He’s fared considerably better at Triple-A, where he’s a lifetime .265/.316/.376 hitter.

And Snyder, 29, tallied 47 PAs this season and hit .239/.255/.652 — one of the stranger batting lines you’ll come across anytime soon. The 29-year-old collected 11 hits but just one single, as he belted four homers to go along with five doubles and a triple in his brief stint, bumping his career batting line to .242/.279/.459. Clearly, as evidenced by the .217 ISO (slugging percentage minus batting average) that he’s posted in the Majors, there’s some pop in Snyder’s bat, though he’s never been able to carve out a prolonged role in the bigs. Formerly selected with the 13th overall pick by the Orioles in 2005, Snyder is a career .274/.336/.437 hitter in the minors, including a .259/.319/.411 slash in parts of seven Triple-A seasons.

Braves To Designate Jose Ramirez For Assignment

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The Braves will designate right-handed reliever Jose Ramirez for assignment, tweets MLB.com’s Mark Bowman. Ramirez’s departure from the 40-man roster will allow the Braves to add left-hander Hunter Cervenka and right-hander Joel De La Cruz to the 40-man and 25-man rosters. The Braves still need to clear another spot on the 40-man, though presumably they could do so by transferring left-hander Jesse Biddle or right-hander Daniel Winkler (who, sadly, fractured his elbow in yesterday’s contest) to the 60-day disabled list.

Ramirez, 26, began last season with the Yankees but was traded to the Mariners alongside Ramon Flores in exchange for Dustin Ackley. The new Seattle front office subsequently flipped Ramirez to the Braves in exchange for a player to be named later (Ryne Harper) this offseason.

Ramirez appeared in two games for the Braves, and though he struck out four batters in his two innings of work, he also surrendered six runs on five hits and four walks. Ramirez throws hard, having averaged 95.1 mph on his fastball in the Majors, and he’s said to have a plus changeup to pair with that velocity. Ramirez, though, does have a lengthy injury history, and his performance in the Majors and upper minors has yet to line up with his raw stuff. The right-hander’s 2016 struggles have caused his Major League ERA to balloon to 10.53 (in a small 19 2/3 innings sample), and he has a 4.06 ERA in 106 1/3 minor league innings as well.

Cervenka and De La Cruz, each 26 years old, will be making their big league debuts with the Braves. Neither was drafted by Atlanta (Cervenka was drafted by the Red Sox, while De La Cruz was initially signed by the Brewers), but each signed a minor league deal with the Braves this past year and were in camp as non-roster invitees. Cervenka has displayed a penchant for missing bats but also questionable control of the strike zone, as evidenced by career averages of 9.1 strikeouts and 5.9 walks per nine innings in the minors. Last year, he held lefties to a .224/.318/.241 slash while pitching for the Cubs’ Double-A affiliate . De La Cruz, meanwhile, has a 3.99 ERA in 128 1/3 Triple-A innings. Last year he split the season between the Yankees’ Double-A and Triple-A affiliates, combining to throw 84 1/3 innings of 3.41 ERA ball with 4.5 K/9 and 2.3 BB/9.

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