Placed AA Mississippi RHP Bradley Roney on the 7-day DL. (7/11)
Promoted RHP Junior Rincon from A+ Florida to AA Mississippi. (7/11)
Placed AA Mississippi LHP Jesse Biddle on the 7-day DL. (7/12)
Promoted RHP Jacob Webb from A+ Florida to AA Mississippi. (7/12)
Sent RHP Chaz Roe outright to AAA Gwinnett. (7/13)
Promoted OF Ronald Acuna from AA Mississippi to AAA Gwinnett. (7/13)
Demoted 3B Andrew Daniel from AA Mississippi to A+ Florida. (7/13)
Promoted 3B Austin Riley from A+ Florida to AA Mississippi. (7/13)
Promoted OF Tyler Neslony from A+ Florida to AA Mississippi. (7/13)
Promoted RF Justin Ellison from A- Rome to A+ Florida. (7/13)
Promoted OF Isranel Wilson from R-Danville to A- Rome. (7/13)
Placed RHP Jason Motte on the 10-day DL with a back strain. (7/14)
Recalled RHP Jason Hursh from AAA Gwinnett. (7/14)
Activated AAA Gwinnett RHP Caleb Dirks from the 7-day DL. (7/14)
Promoted RHP Brandon S. White from A-Rome to A+ Florida. (7/14)
Promoted RHP Ryan Schlosser from R-Danville to A- Rome. (7/14)
Activated UT Sean Rodriguez from the 60-day DL. (7/17)
Activated UT Danny Santana from the 10-day DL. (7/17)
Transferred RHP Armando Rivero from 10-day DL to 60-day DL. (7/17)
Sent RHP Arodys Vizcaino to AAA Gwinnett on rehab assignment. (7/17)
Optioned Jason Hursh to AAA Gwinnett. (7/17)
Optioned Jace Peterson to AAA Gwinnett. (7/17)
Demoted RHP Enrique Burgos from AAA Gwinnett to AA Mississippi. (7/17)
Demoted RHP Junior Rincon from AA Mississippi to A+ Florida. (7/17)
Placed AA RHP Bradley Roney on the 7-day DL
If you remember your high school physics class, you might remember that velocity and speed are different. Velocity has a vector, a direction. When Roney lets go of the ball, it has speed. It’s hard to call it velocity because there doesn’t appear to be any evidence he knows the vector in which it is headed. If it ever clicks, he has the talent for late-inning work. It’s easy to be pessimistic on profiles like this, but “profiles like this” kind of include Craig Kimbrel as well (though Kimbrel’s raw stuff was much better). Hopefully, this undisclosed injury won’t set Roney back much.
Placed AA LHP Jesse Biddle on the 7-day DL
Biddle has spent 2017 re-inventing himself as a reliever, with significantly encouraging results (2.90 ERA / 3.14 DRA / 2.82 FIP). Walks were always a problem for Biddle as a starter, but he’s walking less than 3 per 9 as a reliever. He’s still just 25, so perhaps a path to major league success has been found for the one time top prospect. Here’s hoping the current injury, whatever it is, doesn’t disrupt his progress.
Promoted RHP Jacob Webb from A+ Florida to AA Mississippi
Webb’s surface stats at Florida were outstanding, as the 23 year old leaves behind a sparkling 1.74 ERA. DRA and FIP are a bit more reserved (3.75 and 3.02, respectively), but it’s still pretty encouraging to see Webb jump to the high minors.
Outrighted RHP Chaz Roe to AAA Gwinnett
Roe cleared waivers, which is a bit surprising, seeing how helpful Roe has been in recent years. Then again, Roe barely saw big league time this year before a lengthy injury, and he was pretty ineffective in his rehab stint as well. That all works out nicely for Atlanta, who can keep him in Gwinnett until things are fixed and then bring him back up, and he won’t even take up a 40-man spot in the meantime.
Promoted OF Ronald Acuna from AA Mississippi to AAA Gwinnett
Acuna slashed .326/.374/.520 at AA, so the organization aggressively sent the 19-year old to its highest affiliate. Acuna has traded some contact for power this year, but that can be a good trade, and in his case it has. After homering once every 42 plate appearances in 2016, he’s doing so every 28 plate appearances in 2017. He’s the most exciting prospect in the organization, and he’s just one step away. That’s pretty cool, folks.
Demoted 3B Andrew Daniel from AA Mississippi to A+ Florida
Daniel was recently discussed when he signed with the organization. Since I warned you to not consider him a prospect, Daniel has rendered that warning moot with a .095/.174/.095 line at AA.
Promoted 3B Austin Riley from A+ Florida to AA Mississippi
It’s been the summer of Acuna for Braves fans, but Austin Riley is another legitimate prospect making his way into the upper minors. His .252/.310/.408 line in the FSL isn’t eyepopping, but he has made better contact this year, and he still displayed some power, no small task in Florida. If you’re concerned with that .252, that’s reasonable. However, with a strong arm that should keep him at third and power that should translate into big league production, the hit tool needs to be just good enough to not cripple him, and so far, it hasn’t.
Promoted OF Tyler Neslony from A+ Florida to AA Mississippi
Neslony mashed at high-A to the tune of .309/.378/.442, so the 2016 9th rounder is headed to AA. It’s a line that gets you excited, but that’s tempered a bit by a .371 BABIP. Neslony could be a good old scouts vs stats test. He wasn’t on a lot of radars, even starting the year on Florida’s bench, but somehow has found himself hitting his way to Mississippi. If he keeps hitting, we’ll keep watching.
Promoted RF Justin Ellison from A- Rome to A+ Florida
Promoted after a .254/.302/.444 start, Ellison uses speed to create extra base hits and is a smart defender. His walk and strikeout rates are trending in opposite directions, which is a concern, but it’s a nice vote of confidence from the organization for a guy who isn’t a big-time prospect.
Promoted OF Isranel Wilson from R-Danville to A- Rome
Wilson has been a study in tools vs skills for several years, from his undisciplined path to 10 HR in the DSL a few years ago to a .192/.276/.315 dud in Danville last year. This year, however, some skills have emerged. His .250/.338/.544 line in Danville is obviously encouraging, as is homering once every 4 games. But more than that, his strikeouts have plummeted, as he’s gone from striking out once every three at-bats to less than once every four. That’s a drop of 10 percentage points, and that’s what tells us Wilson is starting to learn how to be a hitter. It doesn’t tell us if he’ll continue to improve, but getting out of rookie ball is a nice step for the very talented prospect.
Placed RHP Jason Motte on the 10-day DL with a back strain
Motte has more or less been what the team paid for, a replacement level veteran who doesn’t embarrass himself on the mound. Motte’s 2017 has been a throwback to the late 90’s, where a 6.5 K/9 and a 4.98 DRA might have been more useful.
Activated AAA Gwinnett RHP Caleb Dirks from the 7-day DL
Dirks has been his usual dominant self this year, with high K totals and solid walk prevention. There’s no reason to think he’s not on the cusp of a call-up. The only thing in his way might be that others already on the 40-man roster are on the option/promotion/option merry-go-round, and bringing Dirks up would involve more complicated roster management. I would expect him to compete for the 2018 ‘pen.
Promoted RHP Brandon S. White from A-Rome to A+ Florida
The 2016 12th rounder gets the call thanks to a 1.82 ERA, but after seeing a significant decline in K-rate from rookie ball to Rome, I’m not exactly sure how likely it is that we’ll see White in Atlanta. Still, a performance-based promotion is a good one, so good for him.
Promoted RHP Ryan Schlosser from R-Danville to A- Rome
In 2 seasons, Schlosser got less than 30 innings in rookie ball, and less than 9 were this year, so perhaps the team saw something encouraging beyond his 3.12 ERA.
Activated UT Sean Rodriguez from the 60-day DL
He’s back, way sooner than expected! It remains to be seen exactly how Brian Snitker will use Rodriguez, or how he’ll play, but for now, just be really excited that Rodriguez is playing major league baseball again. He’s earned it.
Activated UT Danny Santana from the 10-day DL
Bacterial infections can shelve a player for months, but Santana missed days. Even though he’s not a great hitter, he’s a fine bench piece thanks to versatility on the left side of a diamond.
Transferred RHP Armando Rivero from 10-day DL to 60-day DL
I’m not sure what the diagnosis was on the Rule V pick, but it involved his shoulder, and generally speaking, pitcher + shoulder = bad, so it’s not a huge surprise. Now that he’s on the 60, he won’t take up space on the 40, which opened a spot for Sean Rodriguez’s return.
Sent RHP Arodys Vizcaino to AAA Gwinnett on rehab assignment
Atlanta’s best reliever hits the comeback trail. His return will be a boon to the latter innings.
Recalled Jason Hursh from AAA Gwinnett
Optioned Jason Hursh to AAA Gwinnett
You know that option-promotion-option merry-go-round I mentioned? Hursh lives there, and if his 6.00 DRA is going to be his ticket off, the destination will likely disappoint him.
Optioned Jace Peterson to AAA Gwinnett
Like Hursh, Peterson is probably getting a real good feel for lane tendencies on the north side of I-285.
Demoted RHP Enrique Burgos from AAA Gwinnett to AA Mississippi
It’s not a performance demotion – Burgos has a 0.64 ERA and a 2.61 DRA since coming to Gwinnett. However, with major leaguers coming off the DL, that means major leaguers get sent to AAA, so somebody has to go to AA. With just 14 innings with the team since coming over from the Arizona system, the 26 year old takes the bus.
Promoted RHP Junior Rincon from A+ Florida to AA Mississippi
Demoted RHP Junior Rincon from AA Mississippi to A+ Florida
I wrote about Rincon recently. Not much has changed.
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