Braves Select Zach Logue

Between games of today’s doubleheader, the Braves announced that they have selected the contract of left-hander Zach Logue. Righty Allan Winans was optioned to Triple-A Gwinnett in a corresponding move while outfielder Michael Harris II was transferred to the 60-day injured list to open a 40-man spot. Atlanta also announced righty Daysbel Hernández as their 27th man for the doubleheader, though the second contest of that twin bill was postponed after these roster moves were announced.

Logue, 28, signed a minor league deal with Atlanta in the offseason and has been working in a swing role in the minors this year. He has tossed 76 2/3 innings on the farm over 19 appearances, 11 of those being starts. He has allowed 2.93 earned runs per nine innings with a 23.5% strikeout rate and 6.8% walk rate.

That will get him back to the big leagues, perhaps to provide some length out of the bullpen. Yesterday’s game against the Reds was postponed by the weather, which led to today’s planned doubleheader. Since Atlanta also played a twin bill on Saturday against the Cardinals, it was shaping up to be quite a week, though today’s second contest has now been banged as well.

Whenever Logue gets into a game, he’ll be adding to a track record that includes 68 innings with the Athletics and Tigers. He has a 6.88 ERA in that fairly small sample of work. His minor league work has been better at times and he was once a notable prospect in the Blue Jays’ system, going to the A’s in the Matt Chapman trade.

Logue had a 3.67 ERA on the farm in 2021, striking out 28.2% of batters faced while giving out walks at just a 5.3% clip over 125 innings. It was after that season that he was flipped to Oakland but then he posted a 6.79 ERA in the majors and a mark of 8.12 in Triple-A. He went to the Tigers on waivers and continued struggling in 2023, with a 7.36 ERA in the bigs and 6.58 ERA in Triple-A.

But after two rough years, he seems to be back in good form here in 2024. He can cover some innings out of the bullpen and still has an option that Atlanta could use to send him back down to the minors. He has less than a year of service time and could be retained for future seasons if he continues hanging onto his 40-man spot.

As for Harris, he’s been on the injured list since the middle of June due to a Grade 2 hamstring strain. He’ll now be ineligible to be reinstated until 60 days from that initial IL placement, which would be the middle of August. He still has yet to begin a rehab assignment and would likely need some time to get back in game shape even if he were cleared to play in the near future.