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Chad Sobotka

Brewers Claim Ryan Weber

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The Brewers have claimed Ryan Weber off waivers from the Red Sox, and assigned the right-hander to Triple-A.  In another move, the Brewers also announced that right-hander Chad Sobotka was outrighted to Triple-A.

Weber was designated for assignment two days ago by the Red Sox, following a single appearance that saw Weber allow 11 runs to the Blue Jays in 5 2/3 innings of mop-up duty.  It was an ugly end to a three-year tenure in Boston for Weber, who posted a 5.54 ERA over 89 1/3 innings with the Red Sox, starting eight of his 36 games.

Weber’s ability to work as a swingman or multi-inning reliever clearly intrigued the Brewers enough to make a claim.  Weber does have only a career 5.30 ERA, and his low (15.1%) strikeout rate makes him something of an outlier on a Milwaukee pitching staff that tends to favor hurlers who miss a lot of bats.  However, Weber’s 52.3% groundball rate over 163 career innings fits right into a Brewers team with a cumulative 45.6% grounder rate this season, tied for the fifth-best rate of any pitching unit in baseball.

Sobotka came to Milwaukee from Atlanta as part of the Orlando Arcia trade in early April.  Sobotka has yet to see any big league action with his new club, and the right-hander has only pitched 3 2/3 innings for Triple-A Nashville due to a sinus infection.  Sobotka has a 5.36 ERA/4.22 SIERA, 28.8% strikeout rate, and 14.2% walk rate over 47 career innings with the Braves from 2018-20.

Brewers Trade Orlando Arcia To Braves

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The Brewers and Braves have lined up on a rare, early-season trade involving three players on the teams’ respective 40-man rosters. The Brewers are sending infielder Orlando Arcia to the Braves in return for right-handed relievers Patrick Weigel and Chad Sobotka, per announcements from both teams. Weigel and Sobotka will report to the Brewers’ alternate training site.

While it’s a bit surprising to see a trade of any note taking place so early in the season, Arcia’s role with the Brewers has diminished in recent years. The hope at one point was that he’d be the long-term answer at short, but Luis Urias now looks to be the preferred option at that position for the Brew Crew. Arcia has also seen some time at third base this year, but Travis Shaw made the Brewers’ Opening Day roster and is expected to serve as the primary option at the hot corner.

Arcia is off to a 1-for-11 start to his 2021 season, but he turned in perhaps the best showing of his career last summer when he slashed .260/.317/.416 through 189 plate appearances. That said, it’s somewhat disappointing for that output to represent a career-best showing for Arcia, given that he once ranked among baseball’s top 10 overall prospects at both Baseball America and MLB.com. Arcia’s glove always gave him a decent floor, but his bat simply hasn’t come around as hoped. Through 1876 plate appearances at the big league level, he’s managed just a .244/.293/.364 batting line with 42 homers and 39 steals.

The Braves obviously don’t have a need for an everyday shortstop — Dansby Swanson has the position locked down — but Arcia gives them a utility option with a solid glove. He has 4250 career innings at shortstop, so it’s not a surprise that Atlanta would be comfortable sliding him over to either second base or third base.

Ehire Adrianza had been filling that role with the club, although there’s some uncertainty surrounding his status at the moment. Adrianza left the club to tend to a personal matter recently, and he was reportedly in the process of going through intake testing to return to the club. David O’Brien of The Athletic tweets that Adrianza is expected to return to the club by this weekend.

Arcia joins Adrianza, Johan Camargo and Pablo Sandoval as utility options off the bench for skipper Brian Snitker, although the Braves can’t carry that many backup infielders simultaneously. Both Arcia and Camargo have a minor league option remaining. Arcia is the more expensive of the two, with a $2MM salary to Camargo’s $1.36MM, and it would stand to reason that if the Braves are giving up some pitching to acquire him, he’d get the nod. At some point, the acquisition of Arcia could place the roster spot of one of the other backup infielders in jeopardy.

Depending on how things play out for Arcia in Atlanta, he could be an option for them not only in 2021 but in 2022. He currently has four-plus years of big league service, which means he’ll be controllable through the 2022 season via arbitration.

In exchange for Arcia, the Brewers will pick up a pair of optionable relievers — one of whom once rated as one of the better arms in a pitching-rich Braves system. The 26-year-old Weigel ranked ninth among Braves farmhands on Baseball America’s list back in 2017 and still checked in 14th this past offseason.

His career has been slowed by 2018 Tommy John surgery, but Weigel’s 2019 return from that procedure created some optimism. In 79 innings split between Double-A and Triple-A, the righty worked to a 2.73 ERA — albeit with less-encouraging strikeout and walk rates (21.6 percent and 12.5 percent, respectively). Weigel pitched in just one game with Atlanta last year, allowing a pair of runs in two-thirds of an inning. That’s his lone MLB appearance to date.

Sobotka, 27, has displayed a knack for missing bats but has also battled control issues in parts of three seasons with the Braves. The righty boasts a fastball that averages better than 96 mph and a career 28.8 percent strikeout rate through 47 big league innings, but he’s also walked 14.2 percent of his opponents and plunked three more.

The trade gives the Brewers some flexibility on the pitching staff in a season where most teams figure to need it more than ever before, but it also closes the book on one of the organization’s most promising farmhands in recent memory. They’ll now turn the reins over to Urias, a former top prospect himself, in hopes of better results. While Urias himself hasn’t had any real big league success yet, he’s more than three years younger than Arcia and has a vastly better track record in Triple-A, where he’s put together a .305/.403/.511 line in 867 plate appearances.

MLB Network’s Jon Heyman first reported that the Brewers were in talks to trade Arcia. FanSided’s Robert Murray reported that a deal with an unknown club had been reached. The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reported that the Braves were acquiring Arcia, and MLB.com’s Mark Bowman reported that Weigel and Sobotka were headed to the Brewers.

Braves Recall Chad Sobotka, Option Huascar Ynoa

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The Atlanta Braves optioned right-hander Huascar Ynoa to their alternate training site after yesterday’s doubleheader. Chad Sobotka has been recalled to take his place on the roster.

This could be a bit of roster management for the Braves, as Ynoa started the second game of yesterday’s doubleheader and Atlanta may simply want a fresh arm for the bullpen. On the other hand, one of the reasons they need a fresh arm is because Ynoa lasted just 2 1/3 innings while giving up 6 earned runs to a last-place Nationals team that was without their MVP Juan Soto. Ynoa has made six appearances for Atlanta this season, three of them starts, but totaling just 11 2/3 innings with a 7.71 ERA/6.39 FIP.

The Braves have faced rotation issues all season, though Max Fried has pitched like a bona fide ace, Ian Anderson is off to a strong start to his major-league career, and veteran Tommy Milone joined the corps before the trade deadline. Josh Tomlin has served as a swingman, but it remains to be seen what the Braves’ long-term plans are for the back two spots in the rotation. Atlanta has many options remaining in their player pool – Kyle Wright, Touki Toussaint, Sean Newcomb, for example – but many of these young arms have struggled to establish themselves as reliable options thus far in 2020.

Sobotka will jump into the bullpen to provide right-handed relief. The 27-year-old has yet to surrender a run in 3 innings so far this season. For his career, Sobotka owns a 4.47 ERA/4.98 FIP in 46 1/3 innings spread across the last three seasons.

Braves Outright Chris Rusin

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Aug. 6: The Braves announced that Rusin has been assigned outright to their alternate training site after clearing waivers. He’ll remain in the team’s 60-player pool but is no longer on the 40-man roster. Because he’s still in the player pool, he’s eligible to rejoin the club later this season.

Aug. 4: The Braves have designated lefty Chris Rusin for assignment, per a club announcement. Additionally, the team placed righty Mike Soroka on the 45-day injured list. Those moves created a pair of active roster spots to enable the promotion of two pitchers. Righties Chad Sobotka and Huascar Ynoa will each join the MLB team.

Rusin, 33, earned a job out of Summer Camp but only got one appearance before he was set free. He allowed three earned runs in a 3 1/3-inning outing last night after Soroka departed with what turned out to be a season-ending injury. The former Cubs and Rockies southpaw was quite effective in Colorado from 2016-17, pitching to a 3.19 ERA in 169 1/3 frames, but success has been hard to come by outside of that two-year stretch. In 468 2/3 innings across part of nine MLB seasons (2020 included), Rusin has a 4.65 ERA with 6.5 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9.

Quick Hits: Suarez, Puk, Trammell, Braves

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Injured Reds third baseman Eugenio Suarez continues to make progress in his recovery from the right shoulder surgery he underwent in January, Mark Sheldon of MLB.com relays. Manager David Bell announced that Suarez will make his spring training debut Friday. Suarez won’t play the field in that game, but optimism continues to build that the slugger will be ready for Opening Day.

Now for the latest on a few other clubs…

  • Athletics hurler A.J. Puk has been down with a mild shoulder strain for a week, but the left-hander said Monday that he expects to resume throwing Tuesday (Twitter links via Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle). While Puk’s still hopeful that he’ll be set to go for the beginning of the regular season, he added that he doesn’t “want to rush anything. It’s a long season and I’d rather be feeling healthy down the stretch.” The promising Puk, 24, hasn’t experienced a healthy big league season yet. He missed 2018 because of Tommy John surgery and then combined for fewer than 40 professional innings last year as he worked his way back. However, he did toss 11 1/3 quality frames from the A’s bullpen late in the season. If Puk’s health holds up in 2020, he could emerge as a key member of Oakland’s rotation.
  • Although he hasn’t played above the Double-A level yet, Padres outfield prospect Taylor Trammell remains in consideration for a major league roster spot, per AJ Cassavell of MLB.com. It’s a long shot that Trammell will actually begin the year in the majors, according to Cassavell, but manager Jayce Tingler noted that the 22-year-old is “playing really well” and has had “a great experience” in spring training. Trammell, whom the Padres acquired from Cincy in a blockbuster trade last summer, has gone 9-for-23 with three doubles and a triple this spring.
  • Lefty A.J. Minter and righty Chad Sobotka’s bids to earn season-opening roster spots with the Braves have already ended. The team optioned the pair Monday, leaving it with 52 players on its camp roster, David O’Brien of The Athletic tweets. Neither pitcher performed well for the Braves last year. Minter walked a little over seven hitters per nine, contributing heavily to a hideous 7.06 ERA in 29 1/3 innings. Sobotka wasn’t much better over his 29 frames, in which he logged a 6.21 ERA with 5.9 walks per nine and an HR/9 of 1.86.

Braves Place Anthony Swarzak On Injured List, Recall Chad Sobotka

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The Braves have placed right-handed pitcher Anthony Swarzak on the 10-day injured list and have recalled Chad Sobotka to take his spot on the active roster, according to Gabe Burns of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Swarzak is dealing with right shoulder inflammation.

It’s a dose of frustrating news for the Braves, who have largely had to scrap together a bullpen of misfits, outcasts, and converted starters. Among that group, though, Swarzak has emerged as perhaps the most reliable piece since his acquisition in late May. The team’s 15 blown saves are tied for the fourth-most in the National League, and Swarzak’s elevation represented a unforeseen development of stability for an otherwise tumultuous bullpen unit.

In light of his recent success, the trade that sent Jesse Biddle and Arodys Vizcaino to Seattle, though perceive as a relatively minor swap at the time, seems like a major victory for Alex Anthopoulos and company. Vizcaino, though a quality reliever in his own right, is out for the remainder of the season and wouldn’t have been able to contribute to a Braves’ postseason run in 2019. Meanwhile, Jesse Biddle failed to deliver in Seattle and has since been designated for assignment, now finding himself in the Rangers’ organization.

Swarzak, though, has a history of shoulder problems, including issues that he encountered this spring with the Mariners. It makes the latest injury more worrisome for the contending Braves, who will certainly hope that Swarzak’s injury doesn’t keep him out of action for an extended period of time. Regardless of his status, Atlanta will still likely be in the market for pitching help as the trade deadline approaches, but a significant injury to their best reliever would only heighten the demand for reinforcements.

Sobotka, meanwhile, has only pitched 14 innings for the Braves this season, and has returned mixed results in parts of two season with the team. The big right-hander has flashed solid strikeout stuff, but has often struggled to find the strike zone, walking an average of 5.7 batters per nine innings pitched for his career. To be sure, he has the tools to become a mainstay in the Atlanta bullpen, but whether he can put it all together in the Majors remains to be seen: he followed up last year’s 1.88 ERA with a 7.07 mark in limited action this season.

NL East Notes: Hammer, Ross, Bourque, Sobotka, Wilson

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With sidearmer Pat Neshek headed to the injured list, the Phillies have selected the contract of J.D. Hammer to take his place, per Matt Breen of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Breen also points out a fun bit of trivia regarding these two, as this is actually the second time Neshak has cleared out for Hammer in Philly. Hammer first came to the Phillies (along with two others) in a 2017 deadline deal that sent Neshek from the Phillies to the Rockies (Twitter links). Hammer has a 1.61 ERA between Double-A and Triple-A so far this season, though most of his time has been in Reading. In fact, Hammer is now primed to make his major league debut as just one appearance in Triple-A.

  • The Nationals continue recent tinkering of their bullpen personnel. Though their relief crew has been an unmitigated disaster, recent moves have been prompted largely by injuries to Anibal Sanchez and Jeremy Hellickson. With both Erick Fedde and Kyle McGowin taking a turn in the rotation, the Nationals are bringing in another fresh arm to help their beleaguered pen. James Bourque gets set to make his major league debut in Washington, while Joe Ross will be sent to Triple-A Fresno, per Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post (via Twitter). Finally healthy, Ross has been unable to adjust to life in the pen, sporting a bad-even-in-Washington 9.22 ERA (5.87 FIP) over 16 appearances. The velocity has been there for Ross (94.1 mph) but the control has not (5.3 BB/9). Austin Voth will be the only pitcher left on the Nationals 40-man roster not to make an appearance with the big league club this season.
  • Speaking of bullpen troubles, the Braves actually lead the league in number of pitchers used in relief so far this season with 19, per MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian (via Twitter). Chad Sobotka, one of the nineteen, was activated from the 10-day injured list and optioned to Triple-A, per MLB Roster Moves. Sobotka earned -0.6 rWAR in just 13 appearances before his injury, pitching to an 8.25 ERA while walking 6.8 batters per nine innings.
  • In New York, Justin Wilson remains at least a week away from returning from elbow soreness for the Mets, per MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo (via Twitter). Wilson has resumed throwing activities, with the next step being mound work before likely getting a few days on a rehab assignment. Wilson, 31, had made 10 appearances, going 1-1 with a 4.82 ERA before hitting the injured list, but there’s little to glean from such a small sample size.

Braves Place Chad Sobotka On IL, Recall Grant Dayton

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The Braves announced today that reliever Chad Sobotka is headed to the 10-day injured list with a left abdomen strain. He’ll be replaced by southpaw Grant Dayton.

Sobotka has scuffled out of the gates for the Atlanta club, turning in a dozen innings of 8.25 ERA ball to open the year. While he’s getting grounders (46.9%) and strikeouts (12.8 per nine), he’s also coughing up quite a few walks (6.8 per nine) and home runs (2.25 per nine on a 25.0% HR/FB rate).

It’s hard to diagnose the true root of the issues. Though Sobotka is still sitting at over 96 mph with his fastball and generating a 14.6% swinging-strike, opposing hitters are simply making better contact than they did in his debut stint last year. He’s getting first-pitch strikes 63.9% of the time, which is generally a good sign for walk rate, but is in the zone with just 35.8% of his pitches.

In any event, a brief respite may not be the worst outcome here, so long as the strain isn’t too serious. It’s not yet clear whether he’ll need a rehab stint and how long he’ll be sidelined. Of course, the Braves pen isn’t in the best position to weather any absences, even from a pitcher that hasn’t produced the desired results.

It’ll be interesting to see what the club gets from Dayton, a 2017-18 offseason waiver claimee who is now back from Tommy John surgery. He seems to be throwing the ball well at Triple-A, having compiled eight strikeouts without a walk (but with one home run against him) in his 5 1/3 frames. Dayton was a fascinating breakout reliever for the Dodgers in 2016 but did not sustain his initial showing in the ensuing season before going under the knife.

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