- Giants catcher Buster Posey drew trade interest from the Braves prior to the July 31 non-waiver deadline, Cafardo reports. Moreover, “there was talk” Boston was interested in Posey, but a team source shot down that, Cafardo adds. Regardless, it’s no surprise the Giants didn’t trade Posey, a franchise institution who remains a high-end catcher at the age of 31. It was revealed this week, however, that Posey will undergo season-ending hip surgery – a procedure which could also prevent him from being ready to start next year on time. The 2019 campaign will be the third-to-last guaranteed season of the nine-year, $167MM extension Posey signed in 2013.
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Braves Rumors
Latest On Braves' Injured Relievers
- The NL East-leading Braves expect to get closer Arodys Vizcaino and fellow relievers Shane Carle, Brandon McCarthy and Peter Moylan back by mid-September, perhaps “much sooner” in some cases, Gabe Burns of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes. The two most effective members of that group this season have been Vizcaino and Carle, though both have battled shoulder issues. McCarthy has been on the shelf since June 24 because of knee troubles, meanwhile, and he’ll be pitching the final innings of his career when he does come back. The 34-year-old announced earlier this month that he’s going to retire at season’s end.
Braves Outright Ryan Flaherty
The Braves outrighted Ryan Flaherty after he cleared waivers, as Gabe Burns of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution was among those to tweet. The veteran infielder has accepted the assignment, but can still choose to elect free agency at season’s end.
Flaherty, 32, rushed out to a hot start at the plate but steadily trailed off over the course of the season. Through 172 total plate appearances in 2018, he’s slashing just .222/.298/.301 — good for a meager 59 wRC+ that falls in line with his numbers in recent seasons.
Flaherty’s role diminished as well with Johan Camargo returning to action and Charlie Culberson engaged in his own surprising run of success. (Interestingly, Statcast actually gives Flaherty the slight edge in xwOBA for the year over Culberson, taking a rather dim view of both players’ batted-ball output.) When a roster spot was needed recently, Flaherty was designated for assignment. He had taken only 32 plate appearances over the preceding two months.
Despite his offensive struggles, Flaherty will “likely” be added back to the MLB roster at some point in September, Burns tweets. Of course, that would still require the Atlanta organization to open a 40-man spot, so other considerations could still intervene. Presumably, if he does make it back to the majors this season, Flaherty will see occasional time as a defensive and baserunning replacement.
Nationals Pulled Mark Reynolds Off Revocable Waivers Following Claim By Braves
The Nationals placed first baseman Mark Reynolds on revocable trade waivers earlier this week but pulled him back after he was claimed by the Braves, reports Jon Heyman of Fancred (via Twitter). That Reynolds has already been pulled off waivers makes him unlikely to change hands at this point. While the Nats could try to pass him through waivers a second time, those waivers would no longer be revocable.
Reynolds, 35, is hitting .255/.335/.497 with 11 home runs in 172 plate appearances with the Nats after signing a minor league deal back on April 17. He eventually played his way onto the MLB roster and has rewarded the organization’s minimal investment of a $1MM base salary with a solid season of production — largely in a bench role.
Reynolds’ minimal salary gave the Nationals little reason to let go of him as a means of cost savings — he’s owed about $209K more as of this writing — and the Nats may simply not have been keen on helping the chances of a division rival in this manner. While the Nats’ playoff hopes are obviously slim, at best, they’re still technically within striking distance of the Braves at eight games out of first place. It’s extremely unlikely that they’ll overcome that deficit, but teams have erased larger leads with less time to play in the past. Beyond that, fan reaction to simply letting Reynolds go to a division rival in exchange for a mere couple hundred thousand dollars would surely have been quite negative.
Even if Reynolds is extremely likely to stay put, though, the Nationals may not yet be done dealing. The Washington Post’s Jorge Castillo reported earlier today that Gio Gonzalez, Matt Wieters and Ryan Zimmerman have cleared waivers. Wieters and especially Zimmerman may be long shots as trade pieces, but Gonzalez could be viewed as a potential rotation option for a contender down the stretch. It also remains to be seen whether the Nationals will part with Kelvin Herrera, who is a free agent at season’s end and will not be receiving a qualifying offer.
Braves Select Chris Stewart
The Braves announced today that they’ve selected the contract of veteran backstop Chris Stewart. Gabe Burns of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution first indicated that the veteran backstop was returning to the Majors (via Twitter). Stewart has been playing at Triple-A since being outrighted earlier this season.
The reason for the promotion seems to be an injury to catcher Kurt Suzuki, which he sustained last night upon being hit on the elbow/triceps area by a fastball from Pirates righty Clay Holmes. Fortunately, the Atlanta organization announced earlier today that Suzuki was cleared of a fracture and has been diagnosed only with a left triceps contusion. Whether a stint on the DL will be required is not yet known, but if one is deemed necessary, it doesn’t seem that it’ll come today. Outfielder Michael Reed was optioned to Triple-A Gwinnett to open roster space for Stewart’s return.
Stewart, 36, rarely strikes out but has never hit much in the majors and has struggled in particular since the start of the 2016 season. He’s slashing only .209/.287/.269 this year in 152 Triple-A plate appearances with Gwinnett. Still, Stewart is regarded as a sturdy, defensive-minded reserve option to have on hand and will be trusted to support Tyler Flowers as needed while Suzuki is unavailable. He’s gone 10-for-27 (37 percent) in halting stolen bases at the Triple-A level this season and has a solid track record in terms of pitch framing.
Braves Select Bryse Wilson, Designate Ryan Flaherty, Outright Chad Bell
The Braves have selected the contract of right-hander Bryse Wilson from Triple-A Gwinnett, tweets David O’Brien of The Athletic. The Braves have since announced that he’ll start tonight’s game in place of Kevin Gausman, who, along with the rest of the Atlanta rotation, has had his start pushed back a day (Twitter link via O’Brien).
While the Braves only needed to make a 25-man roster move to accommodate Wilson’s promotion, they announced pair of corresponding 40-man moves: infielder Ryan Flaherty has been designated for assignment, while left-hander Chad Bell has been outrighted off the 40-man roster.
Wilson, 20, opened the 2018 season at Class-A Advanced but has skyrocketed through Atlanta’s system, topping out in Triple-A recently. The hard-throwing righty was the organization’s fourth-round pick in 2016 and currently ranks 13th in a deep Braves farm system, per the midseason prospect update from Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com.
Wilson’s meteoric rise to the Majors began with 26 2/3 innings of 0.34 ERA ball in High-A to open the season. Those five starts earned him a promotion to Double-A Mississippi, where he posted a 3.97 ERA through 77 innings but turned in a much more impressive 2.77 FIP / 3.33 xFIP on the strength of 10.4 K/9, 3.0 BB/9, 0.35 HR/9 and a 44 percent ground-ball rate. He’s only made three starts in Triple-A so far, and while he had mixed results in his first two outings, his dominance against the Reds’ top affiliate last week landed him second on Baseball America’s Prospect Hot Sheet this week. BA’s J.J. Cooper noted that Wilson threw eight innings of one-hit ball without issuing a walk, facing the minimum number of hitters and racking up 13 strikeouts.
Remarkably, Wilson will join Mike Soroka, Kolby Allard and Ronald Acuna as prospects to debut in Atlanta before their 20th birthday this season. He draws praise for a fastball that sits 93-95 mph and can touch 97 mph with plenty of sink, as well as a slider and changeup that each have average or better potential.
Flaherty, 32, opened the season on a blistering hot streak for the Braves, but that was clearly unlikely to be sustained. The longtime Orioles utilityman managed a .315/.411/.435 slash through his first 107 plate appearance, but that production was buoyed by a .397 BABIP that was inevitably bound to regress. That has indeed been the case, as Flaherty has stumbled to catastrophic levels, going just 5-for-61 since mid-May while seeing his playing time evaporate.
Bell, meanwhile, has a 5.44 ERA In 41 1/3 innings for the Braves’ Triple-A affiliate after being claimed off waivers back in mid-May. Bell hasn’t had any issues missing bats (9.4 K/9), nor has he been especially generous in terms of yielding walks (2.6 BB/9) or home runs (0.65 HR/9). He has, however, been plagued by a .385 BABIP and a 64.7 percent strand rate. While fielding-independent pitching metrics are generally bullish on his work in Gwinnett, he went unclaimed on waivers and will remain with the Braves without occupying a 40-man spot.
Braves Outright Chase Whitley
- The Braves have outrighted righty Chase Whitley to Triple-A Gwinnett, David O’Brien of The Athletic tweets. Whitley, 29, has thrown just one inning this year with the Braves. The former Yankee and Ray has recorded a 4.56 ERA/4.01 FIP with 7.25 K/9 and 2.31 BB/9 in 167 2/3 major league innings.
Jose Urena Receives Six-Game Suspension
Major League Baseball announced today that Marlins righty Jose Urena has received a six-game suspension for plunking Braves outfielder Ronald Acuna last night. Atlanta first base coach Eric Young Sr. was also hit with a one-game ban for his role in the ensuing melee.
Depending upon one’s point of view — and everyone seems to have one on this particular subject — the suspension will likely seem appropriate or gallingly short. This is a rather typical MLB punishment for such a transgression. On the other hand, most MLBTR readers preferred a lengthier ban, with nearly three of four poll respondents this morning opining that Urena should miss ten or more games.
A major aspect of this debate, of course, relates to the unique nature of starting pitching. A six-game ban will mean that Urena won’t be able to make his next scheduled start, but he could just wait and throw a few days later. As many have pointed out over the years, then, such a punishment doesn’t seem to deliver much punch as a disincentive.
There is a bit of an intriguing quirk in the Miami schedule that is worth noting: if Urena does not appeal, he’ll first be eligible to return against the Braves. This being the National League, he’d also have to step up to the plate. While karmic thinking is tempting, though, that tends to further perpetuate the intentional plunking approach to self-policing supposed transgressions against the game of baseball.
Notably, the league’s announcement made clear that the commissioner’s office had determined Urena intentionally hit Acuna, who had led off each of the prior three games against the Marlins with a home run. While Urena has not admitted such an intention, and evidently told manager Don Mattingly he was only trying to work inside on Acuna, there really wasn’t much doubt in most minds as to his culpability. The umps working the game sent Urena packing, after all, for evidently trying to send some sort of misguided message. MLBTR’s Steve Adams provided full details on the situation this morning.
Poll: How Should MLB Punish Jose Urena?
Marlins righty Jose Urena was the talk of the league last night, although not for reasons the organization would prefer. Urena was ejected after hitting red-hot Ronald Acuna on the elbow with a 97.5mph fastball — the hardest pitch he’s ever thrown, per Statcast — on the game’s first pitch. Acuna had led off three consecutive games with a home run. Yahoo’s Jeff Passan was among the many pundits who’ve excoriated Urena for his actions, calling them “cowardly” and imploring Major League Baseball to issue a suspension longer than the standard five games for Urena.
Intent, of course, is difficult to prove. However, it’s perhaps telling that Miami manager Don Mattingly seemed to acknowledge some disappointment in his right-hander. Via MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro:
“What we said with Jose is, ’I don’t want to see this kid get hit.’ He’s a great player,” said Mattingly of his talk with Urena after the ejection. “…For us, he’s beat us up, but this is not the way we want to handle that situation. Obviously, this is not something that we represent or believe in as an organization or myself, too. I would never want that kid getting hit and cause that kind of problem.”
Mattingly did tell reporters that Urena claimed to have only been trying to run a pitch inside on Acuna rather than hit him (per the Miami Herald’s Clark Spencer, whose column also has quotes from Urena), but the manager also spoke on multiple occasions about the need for Marlins players to be cognizant of how the organization wants to be represented moving forward.
Frankly, it’s difficult to side with or defend Urena. There’s a difference between throwing inside and uncoiling at max velocity with an intent to hit a batter, and it appears that Urena chose to do the latter in response to Acuna’s torrid series at the plate. There will always be traditionalists who extol the game’s “unwritten” (and outdated) rules and point to the fact that these incidents have been a part of baseball for decades. But “that’s the way it’s always been done” isn’t a good defense in most walks of life, and the game has clearly evolved.
Urena’s actions didn’t help his team; to the contrary, an already-overtaxed Marlins bullpen had to cover a complete game upon his ejection, and the Braves went on to complete a four-game sweep while Urena watched from the sidelines. And to those who might think that Urena’s teammates appreciate him making a statement, the Marlins’ best player, J.T. Realmuto, said after the game (via Frisaro) that hitting Acuna “worked out terrible for our team.” Realmuto pointed to Miami’s overworked relief corps and plainly suggested that the team could’ve used six or seven innings out of Urena.
Initial x-rays on Acuna, meanwhile, were thankfully negative (Twitter link via Gabe Burns of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution), but he’s still set to undergo a CT scan to further clarify the status of his elbow. Even if he avoids major injury, though, it seems quite likely that the league will bring forth a suspension against Urena, in accordance with previous situations where the intent of the pitcher has been fairly plain to see.
A five-game ban for a starting pitcher has been standard operating procedure in these instances, though it’s clear that such punishments haven’t completely dissuaded pitchers from intentionally plunking opponents. Perhaps they never will, but there’s an argument to be made that steeper penalties ought to be put into place in an effort to at least lessen the likelihood of a recurrence. Even if Acuna is back in the lineup tonight, he’ll be in there after perhaps avoiding a serious injury by a matter of millimeters. Should it really take a serious injury to one of MLB’s most exciting young players to invoke change, or have we reached the point where a more proactive approach should be taken? (Link to poll for Trade Rumors app users)
Brandon McCarthy To Retire At Season’s End
Veteran righty Brandon McCarthy says he’ll wrap up his playing career at the end of the season, MLB.com’s Mark Bowman writes. This is his 13th campaign in the majors.
McCarthy, 35, is still hoping to make it back from a knee injury that has sidelined him for a major portion of the 2018 campaign. Indeed, he says he’d have undergone season-ending surgery on the joint if he planned to continue pitching into the future.
Unsurprisingly, with just six weeks left in the regular season, McCarthy is only considering returning as a reliever. He’s also modifying his delivery in an effort to work through the knee problem. Whether or not it works out, it seems the towering veteran is committed to giving it one final go before finishing out his four-year, $48MM contract and riding off into the sunset.
It’s certainly possible McCarthy could be a useful asset for the Atlanta organization down the stretch. With a division title on the line, the club will need every good arm it can muster. And once the calendar flips to September, it won’t have to worry about active roster limitations.
It’s easy to look at McCarthy’s 4.92 ERA from 78 2/3 innings this year and question whether he has much left. But that only tells part of the story. After opening the year with a significant velocity loss, the speed readings ticked northward. McCarthy has generated a sturdy 48.0% groundball rate with 7.4 K/9 and 2.4 BB/9. He has surely been at least somewhat unlucky to surrender a .332 BABIP and 21.7% HR/FB rate (more than double his career level); indeed, both xFIP (3.75) and SIERA (4.09) viewed him as a still-productive hurler.
In any event, it remains to be seen whether McCarthy can come back from injury one final time. Doing so has, unfortunately, been a significant aspect of his career. The former 17th-rounder has only once taken the ball for all 32 starts in a season, in a 2014 campaign in which he recorded exactly two hundred frames. That’s just one of five years in which he reached triple-digit innings tallies.
As things stand, McCarthy owns a 4.20 ERA with 6.7 K/9 and 2.4 BB/9 through 1,223 2/3 lifetime MLB innings. Between his debut with the White Sox in 2005 and his current run in Atlanta, he has seen action with the Dodgers, Rangers, Diamondbacks, Athletics, and Yankees, never stopping in one place for more than three seasons.
No matter how things finish out for McCarthy late this season, he’ll wrap up a productive career as a highly respected veteran. Given his well-earned reputation for wit and wisdom, McCarthy seems sure to make a mark in the game — or some other arena — in the future.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
