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Phillies Move Taijuan Walker To Bullpen

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The Phillies are moving right-hander Taijuan Walker to the bullpen. Manager Rob Thomson informed reporters today, including Matt Gelb of The Athletic, who suggests that Tyler Phillips is likely to take the open rotation slot.

Going into the 2023 season, the Phils signed Walker to a four-year, $72MM deal. His first season in Philadelphia was serviceable enough, as he posted a 4.38 earned run average while taking the ball 31 times. The team didn’t give him a postseason start, however, going with a rotation of Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola and Ranger Suárez, while Cristopher Sánchez made one start as well.

2024 has been far more trying. Walker began the season on the injured list due to right shoulder inflammation. He was reinstated from the IL in late April but went back on the shelf just under two months later due to right index finger inflammation. That second trip to the shelf lasted from late June to the middle of August.

Around those IL stints, he has made 14 starts with a 6.50 ERA. His 16.8% strikeout rate is a career low, apart from 2018 when he made just three starts for the Diamondbacks prior to undergoing Tommy John surgery. His four-seam fastball is averaging 91.5 miles per hour this year, whereas he has been in the 93-95 range for much of his career. He has allowed six earned runs in each of his past two starts.

In the short term, Walker’s poor performance isn’t going to sink the club. Their 78-55 record is one of the best in the majors. They have a five-game lead over Atlanta in the East and would almost certainly have a Wild Card spot even if that club runs them down.

Each of Wheeler, Nola, Suárez and Sánchez are having good seasons, giving the club a strong front four that should carry them through the end of the season and into the playoffs, as long as everyone is healthy. The extra off-days in the postseason generally allow club to get by with three or four starters, rather than five or six in the regular season.

Rosters expand from 26 to 28 on September 1, with clubs able to go from 13 pitchers to 14 as the maximum allowed. Having Walker as an expensive long reliever in the bullpen shouldn’t be too cumbersome from a roster construction point of view.

The long-term question is a bit more complicated. Walker’s deal pays him even salaries of $18MM in each year of his deal, meaning there will still be two years and $36MM remaining as of this winter. As Gelb highlights, teams rarely give up on players with that much money still to be paid out, usually hoping that some kind of bounceback will come to pass. He does mention a few exceptions, listing Pablo Sandoval as the player released with the most money still owed: $48.3MM. A few other listed examples include Robinson Canó ($37.6MM), José Abreu ($35MM) and Madison Bumgarner ($34MM).

Walker will be in that range but Gelb also adds that the club still feels there’s a path for getting him on track next year, which will be his age-32 campaign. “The program that he was on to try and gain velocity, we didn’t have enough time,” Thomson said. “Like, that program’s a long program, and we sort of cut the program off early. I think if he has a full offseason of that program, we have a better chance of seeing some improvement.”

Gelb adds that the club had Walker on a weighted ball program while he was out with the aforementioned finger injury. As mentioned earlier, his velocity has been down this year. Perhaps he’s never been 100% healthy this year and has a path to get back on track in future seasons.

That could lead the Phillies to being patient to see how things play out next year, but it’s possible the rotation will get more crowded over time. Wheeler, Nola and Sánchez are all signed through at least 2027, while Suárez still has one more arbitration season left, so he should be around through 2025. Prospect Andrew Painter could be more an option by then. He almost cracked the club’s rotation in 2023 but injuries put a stop to that and he eventually underwent Tommy John surgery last summer.

Gelb relays that Painter recently had a setback in his recovery but the club characterizes it as normal soreness for this part of the rehab process. He was also slowed by an illness recently. He will likely have workload restrictions in 2025 since he only threw 103 2/3 innings in 2022, followed by two lost seasons. Nonetheless, he is still ranked as one of the top pitching prospects in the sport and could be pushing for a big league debut next year.

Ideally, Walker will simply return to form and make this a non-issue. After returning from his aforementioned Tommy John surgery, he posted a 3.80 ERA over the 2020-22 seasons, which is what prompted the Phils to bring him aboard. Even if Painter gets in good form next year, there’s no guarantees that the other four will be healthy, so Walker could certainly be needed. Suárez could also depart in free agency prior to 2026, the final year of Walker’s deal. Though if the struggles from Walker continue, the temptation to release him may grow, especially as the money still owed to him shrinks over time.

For now, the club will turn the ball over to Phillips. He has debuted this year and thrown 36 innings with a 5.50 ERA. Gelb also suggests that Kolby Allard could be a candidate to take a spot. However, the lefty was just optioned on August 26 and needs to wait 15 days from that date before being recalled, unless he’s replacing someone going on the injured list. Allard has a 3.50 ERA in his 18 innings this year. He has a 5.92 ERA in his big league career and a 5.45 ERA in Triple-A this year.

Phillies Make Six Roster Moves

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TODAY: Hall and Castillo cleared waivers and were outrighted to Triple-A, the Phillies announced.

AUGUST 9: The Phillies announced a series of roster moves today. Outfielder Austin Hays has been placed on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to August 8, with a left hamstring strain. Left-hander Kolby Allard was optioned to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. To take those two roster spots, the club selected outfielder Cal Stevenson and right-hander Max Lazar. To open 40-man spots for those two, first baseman Darick Hall and righty Max Castillo have been designated for assignment.

Hays left Wednesday’s game with left hamstring tightness, per Todd Zolecki of MLB.com on X. It’s unclear how long he is expected to be out of action, but it seems the Phils will have to progress for at least a week without their recent outfield upgrade. Acquired from the Orioles prior to the deadline, Hays hit .263/.282/.395 and stole two bases in his first ten games with Philadelphia but will now sit on the shelf for a while.

The club still has Nick Castellanos, Brandon Marsh, Johan Rojas and Weston Wilson in the outfield mix but will bolster that group with Stevenson. Now 27, he was claimed off waivers from the Giants in May of last year but then was outrighted off the Phillies’ roster the following month.

He’s spent all of this year putting up great numbers at the Triple-A level. In 91 games for the IronPigs, he’s hit seven home runs and drawn walks at a massive 16.4% clip while limiting his strikeouts to a 16.7% strikeout rate. His .307/.420/.488 batting line translates to a 138 wRC+ and he’s also stolen 27 bases while lining up at all three outfield spots.

Stevenson has put up strong numbers in the minors before but struggled in limited major league looks. He has 29 big league games under his belt at this point, with the Giants and Athletics, but he hit just .145/.259/.188 in those contests. If things click this time around, he still has one option remaining and he won’t be able to get to one year of service time this season, meaning he could be retained well into the future at minimal cost.

But getting Stevenson onto the roster seems to have cost Hall his spot. He has done some exciting stuff at the plate in the past but is not having his best year. He’s spent the entire season in Triple-A and does have 12 home runs, but his .248/.324/.402 line translates to an 86 wRC+ in the strong offensive environment of the International League this year.

Hall is in his final option year and therefore will be out of options in 2025. Even before this year’s struggles, he didn’t have a path to playing time in Philadelphia with Bryce Harper at first base and Kyle Schwarber in the designated hitter slot. With less roster flexibility next year, he was going to have a hard time hanging onto his roster spot going forward, so the Phils have nudged him off today.

With the trade deadline now passed, they will have no choice but to put him on waivers in the coming days. Clubs may be interested based on his past performance. From 2021 to 2023, he hit 60 home runs in 297 minor league games, walked at an 11.1% clip and had a 21.1% strikeout rate. His combined .261/.351/.486 batting line translated to a 117 wRC+. He can be kept on optional assignment for the rest of this year but will be out of options next year and has no defensive versatility as a first base/DH only player.

The club also made a switch on the pitching side, giving Lazar his first major league call. Drafted by the Brewers back in 2017, he climbed as high as Double-A but didn’t get the major league call by the end of 2023 and qualified for minor league free agency.

The Phillies signed him to a minor league deal in the offseason and have been watching him post great results. In 40 1/3 innings between Double-A and Triple-A, he has a 1.79 earned run average, 33.8% strikeout rate and 5.8% walk rate. Those impressive numbers get him up to the Philly bullpen and he’ll be making his major league debut as soon as he gets into a game.

Castillo, 25, was claimed off waivers from the Red Sox in February. Like Hall, he is in his final option year and may been running out of time. Claimed off waivers from the Red Sox in February, he has been providing the Phils with some starting depth but the results haven’t been there this year. In 52 innings between Double-A and Triple-A, he has a 7.62 ERA, 16.4% strikeout rate and 10.4% walk rate.

The Phils will have to put him on waivers in a few days. As recently as last year, he seemed like a capable up-and-down arm, as he posted a 4.43 ERA in the majors with the Royals and a 4.58 ERA at the Triple-A level, but it’s obviously been a different story this year. Between Castillo and Hall, neither has a previous career outright nor three years of big league service time. If either of them clear waivers, they would stick with the Phils as non-roster depth.

Phillies Place Ranger Suarez On 15-Day Injured List

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The Phillies announced that left-hander Ranger Suarez has been placed on the 15-day injured list due to lower back soreness.  The placement is retroactive to July 24.  Left-hander Kolby Allard has been called up from Triple-A Lehigh Valley to take Suarez’s spot on the active roster.

Suarez’s back has been bothering him for some time, as he passed on playing in his first All-Star Game in order to rest up over the break and hopefully return to form.  This plan didn’t come to fruition, as Suarez allowed three runs on seven hits and a walk over 5 1/3 innings in his first start after the break, a 7-2 Phillies loss to the Twins on July 22.  Losing Suarez for a minimum of 15 days anyway now makes it easy to criticize the Phils’ plan in hindsight, yet with nine days in between starts, it is understandable why Suarez and the team thought he’d have enough time to put this back issue behind him.

Philadelphia’s nine-game lead in the NL East gives the team some flexibility with injuries, of course, and this IL stint now gives Suarez plenty of time to fully get healthy for the stretch run and into October.  With a 7.71 ERA in his last four starts and 21 innings, Suarez has seemingly been trying to pitch through discomfort for some time, though some regression was perhaps inevitable given his red-hot start to the 2024 season.

Even with his recent struggles, Suarez still has a 2.87 ERA across 119 1/3 innings, as well as barrel, walk, and hard-hit ball rates that rank among the league’s best.  After delivering solid numbers as a member of the Phillies’ rotation in 2022-23, Suarez’s emergence into a borderline ace has only added to the team’s enviable pitching depth.  Suarez, Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, and Cristopher Sanchez have all been good to great, and Spencer Turnbull and Tyler Phillips have also been good in some spot duty.

With Suarez, Turnbull, and Taijuan Walker all on the IL at the moment, Allard might get the next opportunity at filling a hole in the rotation.  Allard signed a split contract with the Phillies during the offseason, but the six-year MLB veteran hasn’t distinguished himself with a 5.60 ERA over 72 1/3 minor league innings.

Walker is slated to throw a live batting practice today as he works his way back from blister problems, but he won’t be an option for the rotation until August, and after he has banked a minor league rehab start or two.  This might put him roughly on the same timeline as Suarez assuming the back problem isn’t overly serious, so the Phillies could try to make do with Allard or Michael Mercado until reinforcements arrive.  It is possible the team might seek out some rotation depth at the trade deadline, but that might be more likely to come in the form of a swingman type that could easily transition to the bullpen once the regular starters are healthy.

Phillies Sign Kolby Allard

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2:55pm: It’s a split deal for Allard that’d pay him at a $1MM rate in the Majors with another $125K via incentives, reports Matt Gelb of The Athletic. Allard will earn at a $375K rate in the minors, Gelb adds.

2:32pm: The Phillies announced Tuesday that they’ve signed free agent left-hander Kolby Allard to a one-year contract. The Excel Sports Management client will be added to Philadelphia’s 40-man roster, although he has a minor league option remaining, so it’s not a lock he’ll be on the Opening Day roster. Allard, who was non-tendered by the Braves back in November, has three-plus years of MLB service (3.162) and is controllable through the 2026 season.

Originally selected by the Braves with the No. 14 overall pick back in 2015, Allard long rated as one of the sport’s top pitching prospects. Back injuries hobbled him throughout the early stages of his career, however, and he’s yet to establish himself at the MLB level in parts of six seasons with the Braves and Rangers. Atlanta traded Allard to Texas in the 2019 swap that sent reliever Chris Martin to Atlanta, and the Rangers sent him back to the Braves following the 2022 season in exchange for righty Jake Odorizzi (plus $10MM to cover the bulk of Odorizzi’s $12MM salary).

In 2023, Allard opened the season on the 60-day injured list owing to a Grade 2 oblique strain suffered in camp. He returned over the summer but made only four appearances before inflammation in his shoulder led to him being shut back down and shelved for the remainder of the year. He was limited to just 12 1/3 innings overall, yielding nine runs on 16 hits and four walks with 13 strikeouts (6.57 ERA).

Allard has just one season with a sub-5.00 ERA under his belt — the 4.96 mark he recorded through nine starts (45 1/3 innings) during his first season as a Ranger. He’s made 38 MLB starts and another 31 relief appearances, accumulating a total of 245 innings but with an unsightly 6.10 ERA to show for it. Allard has missed bats at close to league-average levels in brief looks over the past two seasons, but he has a below-average 18.8% strikeout rate in his career and sits in the 90-91 mph range with his fastball. He’s regularly shown strong command, evidenced by a 7.7% walk rate in his time as a big leaguer.

While he hasn’t found sustained MLB success yet, Allard does have a nice track record in the upper minors. He’s pitched in parts of four Triple-A seasons, totaling 323 innings at that level, and recorded a solid 3.71 earned run average in that time. Along the way, he’s fanned 23.4% of his opponents against an 8.3% walk rate — all while working exclusively out of the starting rotation.

Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said earlier this month that he’d been engaged with several free agents in an effort to bolster his team’s rotation depth behind its top five starters: Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, Ranger Suarez, Taijuan Walker and Cristopher Sanchez. Allard is one step toward doing so, and he’ll cost little more than the 40-man roster spot which the team has promised to him.

It’s certainly feasible that Allard could eventually join the big league club as a swingman or lefty reliever, but out-of-options journeyman Dylan Covey seems likely to hold that long relief job to begin the season. And, given that Dombrowski was speaking on record about pursuing exactly this type of rotation depth just a few weeks ago, it seems fair to expect that the initial plan for Allard is for him to open the year in the rotation in Triple-A Lehigh Valley. A spring injury to one of the current starters or perhaps a strong showing (and matching poor performance from Covey) could alter that trajectory, of course.

Five Non-Tendered Starters To Keep An Eye On This Offseason

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Every year, MLB’s non-tender deadline sees club’s allow players under team control to head for the open market early, whether it be due to an increasing price tag in arbitration or a need for additional space on the club’s 40-man roster. The 2023 campaign saw the likes of Cody Bellinger and Jeimer Candelario go on to have strong seasons after being non-tendered the offseason prior, and yesterday we discussed five hitters who were let go by their team’s prior to last week’s non-tender deadline.

While the best pieces among last offseason’s crop of non-tenders were both position players, recent history has offered a handful of arms who went on to provide significant value to teams after being non-tendered earlier in their career, with Kevin Gausman and Taijuan Walker standing as two of the more recent examples. The pair eventually went on to sign multi-year pacts worth $110MM and $72MM, respectively, though it’s anyone’s guess if any of members of this year’s group of non-tendered hurlers will manage to reach those same heights.

This year’s crop of arms won’t benefit from an otherwise weak free agent class the way this year’s hitters will, as the class of free agent starters is deep in potential options, ranging from top-of-the-line aces like Yoshinobu Yamamoto to interesting bounceback candidates like Jack Flaherty and Frankie Montas. Even so, clubs can never have enough starting pitching depth, and each of these arms could at least in theory provide a club with valuable innings in the future if given the chance to do so. Without further ado, let’s take a look at five starters who hit free agency following last week’s non-tender deadline and could be worth keeping an eye on throughout the offseason. Players are listed in alphabetical order, with their age for the 2024 season in parentheses.

Kolby Allard (26)

Not too long ago, Allard was among the game’s most highly-touted prospects. After being selected fourteenth overall by the Braves in the 2015 draft, Allard was a consensus top-50 prospect in the sport by the time he reached Double-A in 2017. After cruising through that campaign with a 3.18 ERA across 150 innings of work at just 19 years old, Allard got his first taste of big league action with Atlanta in 2018, though his stint in the majors lasted just eight innings. After being traded to the Rangers in 2019, Allard spent parts of three seasons swinging in and out of the Rangers rotation, with a 5.70 ERA and 4.96 FIP in 203 2/3 innings of work.

A failed stint in the bullpen in 2022 led the Rangers to deal Allard back to the Braves in exchange for Jake Odorizzi. Allard missed nearly the entire 2023 campaign with oblique and shoulder issues, leading the Braves to non-tender the lefty. While Allard has struggled to establish himself at the big league level, he’ll pitch next season at just 26 years old and advanced metrics such as xFIP (4.57) and SIERA (4.31) have seen his performance as roughly league average since the start of the 2021 campaign, lending credence to the hope that the lefty could still prove to be a solid back-end starter one day.

Yonny Chirinos (30)

Chirinos began his big league career back in 2018 as a member of the Rays, and was a quality arm for the club in a variety of roles from 2018-20. In those three seasons, the right-hander posted a 3.65 ERA (117 ERA+) and 4.17 FIP while appearing in 47 games (28 starts) and pitching a total of 234 1/3 innings. Unfortunately, Chirinos underwent Tommy John surgery in August of 2020 and didn’t return to the mound until late in the 2022 campaign.

Chirinos struggled in his first full season back from surgery in 2023. Though he posted a decent 4.02 ERA in 62 2/3 innings of work as a swingman for the Rays, his peripherals (including a 5.49 FIP and an 11.8% strikeout rate) indicated his performance had slipped considerably. That led Tampa to part ways with Chirinos, who was ultimately claimed off waivers by the Braves. Chirinos’s results took a turn for the worse in Atlanta, as he was blown up for a 9.27 ERA in 22 1/3 innings of work before being placed on the injured list with elbow inflammation. While Chirinos struggled through his first full season back from Tommy John this year, it’s easy to see the right-hander becoming a valuable, versatile depth piece for a contending club again in 2024 if he manages to get healthy.

Dakota Hudson (29)

A first-round selection by the Cardinals in the 2016 draft, Hudson was a quick riser who made his big league debut with the club back in 2018. The groundballer significantly outperformed his peripheral stats early in his career to perform at a mid-rotation level for the Cardinals, with a sterling 3.17 ERA in 241 innings of work 2018-20 despite a 4.74 FIP. Unfortunately, Tommy John surgery cost Hudson almost all of the 2021 season, and upon returning to the Cardinals’ rotation in 2022 his results diminished significantly. In 221 frames since the start of the 2022 campaign, Hudson has posted a 4.64 ERA (88 ERA+) and nearly matching 4.60 FIP as his strikeout rate has dipped to just 13% against a 10% walk rate. That led the Cardinals to non-tender Hudson even in spite of their extreme need for rotation depth headed into 2024.

Brutal as the past two seasons have been for Hudson, it’s worth noting that he still generates grounders at a elite clip; among pitchers with at least 200 innings of work over the past two years, Hudson’s 52.5% groundball rate ranks ninth, sandwiched between Sandy Alcantara and Ranger Suarez. Though the Cardinals were unable to trade Hudson before last week’s non-tender deadline, it’s certainly feasible that a team in need of starting depth could look to take a flier on Hudson’s groundball abilities in hopes they can return him to the form he flashed earlier in his career.

Spencer Turnbull (31)

After being drafted by the Tigers in the second round of the 2014 draft, Turnbull eventually reached the majors for a brief cup of coffee in 2018 before receiving a regular spot in the club’s starting rotation during the 2019 campaign. That rookie campaign saw Turnbull post a 4.61 ERA that was slightly better than league average (103 ERA+) in 148 1/3 innings of work, though his 3.99 FIP hinted at another gear to his performance. After taking a small step forward during the shortened 2020 season (3.97 ERA, 3.49 FIP in 11 starts), Turnbull appeared to put it all together in the 2021 campaign with a 2.88 ERA and 2.97 FIP before his season was cut short after just nine starts by Tommy John surgery.

Turnbull returned in early 2023 and appeared poised to step back into the club’s rotation, but a mix of injuries, under-performance, and a dispute between Turnbull and Detroit brass over service time led to the sides parting ways this offseason with Turnbull having posted a 7.26 ERA over seven starts at the big league level. Despite those brutal numbers, Turnbull is nonetheless among the more interesting bounceback candidates on the open market this offseason given his recent health struggles and the incredible upside he flashed during the 2021 campaign.

Brandon Woodruff (31)

This list wouldn’t be complete without a mention of Woodruff, who has emerged as one of the game’s best starters in recent years. Since his first season as a regular member of the Brewers’ rotation in 2019, Woodruff has dominated to the tune of a 2.93 ERA and 3.10 FIP in 103 starts while collecting two All Star appearances and a fifth-place finish in NL Cy Young award voting back in 2021. Woodruff was dominant as ever in 2023, with a 2.28 ERA and a 29.2% strikeout rate this season. Unfortunately, he was dogged by injuries throughout the season and limited to just eleven starts before undergoing shoulder surgery last month.

Unlike the other arms on this list, there are zero questions about Woodruff’s ability, as he’s a consensus front-of-the-rotation arm in terms of pure talent. Despite that, the Brewers made the difficult decision to non-tender him last week due to questions surrounding his availability for the 2024 campaign. It’s unclear if Woodruff will be able to return to the mound at all in 2024 following his surgery, though the right-hander expressed optimism earlier this offseason that he would be able to pitch again sometime next summer. Still, that uncertainty led the Brewers to part ways with the right-hander rather than tender him a contract that MLBTR’s Matt Swartz projected to be worth $11.6MM, a hefty sum for a small-market club to commit to a pitcher who might not be available next season. Though Woodruff’s timetable for return is uncertain, he has the potential to be among the most impactful pitchers in the entire free agent class based on his track record over the past several seasons. That combination of risk and tantalizing upside leave Woodruff as one of the most interesting free agents not only on this list but in the offseason’s entire class.

National League Non-Tenders: 11/17/23

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The deadline to tender a contract to arbitration-eligible players is tonight at 7:00pm CT. Here’s a rundown of fairly minor players on National League teams who have been non-tendered today. This post will be updated as more decisions are revealed. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected salaries for all players eligible for arbitration last month.

All players who are non-tendered before this evening’s deadline go directly into free agency without being placed on waivers. They’ll be eligible to sign with any of the league’s 30 teams. It’s not uncommon to see non-tendered players almost immediately return to their previous organization on a minor league deal.

The transactions:

Latest Moves

Earlier

  • The Reds have non-tendered relievers Derek Law and Reiver Sanmartin. Cincinnati also confirmed the previously reported non-tender of Nick Senzel.
  • In addition to Rowdy Tellez and Brandon Woodruff, the Brewers have non-tendered right-hander J.C. Mejía. He failed a PED test in September, the second such result of his career, and was suspended for 162 games.
  • Former Rookie of the Year winner Kyle Lewis was non-tendered by the Diamondbacks. He played in only 16 games after being acquired from the Mariners last offseason.
  • The Cubs non-tendered relievers Ethan Roberts, Brandon Hughes and Codi Heuer. All three are recovering from surgeries.
  • Right-hander Tommy Doyle was non-tendered by the Rockies. Colorado designated him for assignment when acquiring Cal Quantrill this morning.
  • The Cardinals have non-tendered catcher Andrew Knizner, first baseman Juan Yepez and starting pitchers Jake Woodford and Dakota Hudson. St. Louis reportedly tried to deal Hudson this afternoon but evidently did not find a taker.
  • The Mets have non-tendered relievers Jeff Brigham, Sam Coonrod and Trevor Gott. New York also cut loose infielder Luis Guillorme and confirmed the reported non-tender of Dan Vogelbach.
  • Left-hander Josh Fleming was non-tendered by the Phillies, the team announced. Philadelphia just snagged the southpaw off waivers from the Rays a few weeks ago.
  • The Marlins have non-tendered catcher Jacob Stallings and infielder Garrett Hampson, per a club announcement. Stallings spent two seasons as the primary catcher after being acquired from the Pirates at the 2021-22 offseason. Hampson signed a minor league deal with the Fish last season.
  • The Pirates non-tendered Osvaldo Bido and Hunter Stratton, tweets Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Neither had yet been eligible for arbitration. Both right-handers made their big league debuts in 2023; Mackey suggests the Bucs will try to bring them back on minor league pacts.
  • The Nationals announced they’ve non-tendered first baseman Dominic Smith and right-hander Cory Abbott. Both players were designated for assignment earlier in the week, making this an inevitability.

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

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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.

Braves To Reinstate Kolby Allard From Injured List

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The Braves will reinstate left-hander Kolby Allard from the 60-day injured list to start tomorrow’s game against the Twins, the team informed reporters (including Justin Toscano of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution). It’ll be his season debut.

Allard, a former first-round draftee, made his first three major league appearances with Atlanta in 2018. The Braves dealt him to the Rangers the following season. He spent four years in Texas but never posted an ERA below 4.96. At the start of last offseason, the Rangers traded him back to the Braves for Jake Odorizzi.

So far, neither team has gotten anything out of the swap. Odorizzi might not throw a pitch as a Ranger. He underwent arthroscopic shoulder surgery in April and will miss the entire season; he’s headed to free agency at year’s end. Allard has been down since suffering a Grade 2 oblique strain in Spring Training.

The southpaw has made just two rehab starts for Triple-A Gwinnett. He has combined for 6 2/3 innings of two-run ball with eight strikeouts. Allard tossed 62 pitches in his most recent outing on Thursday, so it’ll likely be a relatively brief start. The Braves optioned AJ Smith-Shawver yesterday, leaving a vacancy in the fifth rotation spot behind Spencer Strider, Bryce Elder, Charlie Morton and Jared Shuster.

Allard will reoccupy a spot on the 40-man roster. Atlanta already has a vacancy after designating Charlie Culberson for assignment last week. They’ll only need to make a corresponding active roster transaction tomorrow.

Braves Select Four Players, Place Three Others On 60-Day IL

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The Braves announced today that they have selected infielder Ehire Adrianza, outfielder Kevin Pillar, right-hander Jesse Chavez and left-hander Jared Shuster to their 40-man roster. In corresponding moves, right-hander Huascar Ynoa and left-handers Kolby Allard and Tyler Matzek were placed on the 60-day injured list. The Braves already had a couple of vacancies on their 40-man roster, so these IL placements open up three more spots for the four selections and their acquisition of Richard Lovelady from the Royals.

Shuster, 24, will be making his major league debut once he gets into a game. The club came into spring with four rotation spots taken by Max Fried, Spencer Strider, Kyle Wright and Charlie Morton. It was believed by many that the final spot was going to be a battle between Michael Soroka, Ian Anderson and Bryce Elder. However, Soroka got delayed by an injury and the latter two were simply out-pitched by Shuster and Dylan Dodd. Anderson and Elder were optioned to the minors, then Wright was also delayed by injury. That will seemingly allow for both Shuster and Dodd to crack the rotation early in the season, though Dodd still hasn’t been added. Shuster posted a 3.29 ERA between Double-A and Triple-A last year then a 1.45 ERA here in the spring.

Pillar, 34, has been a glove-first outfielder for most of his career, most of it with the Blue Jays. He was drafted and developed by that club while Alex Anthopoulos, now Atlanta’s president of baseball operations, was with Toronto. Last year, he only got into four games with the Dodgers before a shoulder fracture ended his season. He and Sam Hilliard should serve as reserve outfielders on the bench in Atlanta.

Chavez, 39, is a veteran who will be appearing in his 16th season once he gets into a game. He was twice acquired by the Braves last year and ended up posting a 3.76 ERA over 60 total appearances for three different clubs. He’ll give the club a veteran arm for its relief mix.

Adrianza, 33, is a veteran utility infielder who has played for Atlanta in each of the past two seasons. He’s a career .239/.309/.354 hitter in the big leagues. The club recently decided to option its young shortstops Vaughn Grissom and Braden Shewmake for more seasoning in the minors. That left Orlando Arcia as the starting shortstop and bumped Adrianza up to a bench role.

As for the IL placements, none of those comes as a shock. Ynoa and Matzek both had Tommy John surgery late last year and will be out for most of this season. Allard, meanwhile, suffered an oblique strain a few weeks ago.

Kolby Allard Out With Grade 2 Oblique Strain

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Braves lefty Kolby Allard has been shut down after being diagnosed with a Grade 2 oblique strain, per Justin Toscano of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Twitter link). He’ll begin the season on the injured list.

There’s no specific timetable for Allard to return just yet, but even Grade 1 strains can lead to a month-long absence at times. Every injury is different, of course, but for some recent context, Rays righty Tyler Glasnow was diagnosed with a Grade 2 oblique strain earlier this month and received a timetable of six to eight weeks.

Allard wasn’t expected  to open the season in the Atlanta rotation, but he’s on the 40-man roster and has been sharp in limited spring innings thus far, allowing a run on three hits and a walk with four strikeouts through five innings.

The 25-year-old Allard was the No. 14 overall pick by the Braves back in 2015 but was traded to the Rangers in a 2019 deadline swap that brought righty Chris Martin to Atlanta. The Braves reacquired him in the offseason trade that sent veteran right-hander Jake Odorizzi back to Texas (with Atlanta covering $10MM of Odorizzi’s $12.5MM salary). Allard has a career 3.73 ERA in 316 1/3 innings of Triple-A ball, but he’s been hit hard in parts of five MLB seasons, recording a 6.07 ERA in 232 2/3 frames.

The Braves’ rotation again looks quite strong, led by Cy Young runner-up Max Fried. He’s followed by Charlie Morton, Kyle Wright and Rookie of the Year runner-up Spencer Strider. Candidates for the fifth spot include righties Ian Anderson, Bryce Elder and Mike Soroka. Two of those three will likely join Allard (once healthy) in serving as rotation depth with Triple-A Gwinnett.

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