Placed RHP Caleb Dirks on the 7-day DL. (8/2/17)
Demoted RHP Mauricio Cabrera from AAA Gwinnett to AA Mississippi. (8/2/17)
Placed LHP Michael Mader on the 7-day DL. (8/2/17)
Sent RHP Josh Collmenter to R-GCL Braves on rehab assignment. (8/3/17)
Placed RHP Caleb Dirks on the 7-day DL
Dirks has encountered some bumps in this, his first season in AAA. He has a 4.02 ERA, giving up 1.34 HR/9, and he’s blown the lead in 1/3 of the save situations he’s encountered. Don’t worry about all that. Every 9 innings, Dirks is striking out more than 10 and walking less than 3, and his 2.76 Deserved Run Average tells us that there’s still a lot to like about Dirks’ performance. As with most minor league injuries, there’s really no info as to what his ailment is. As long as this is a short-term injury, I expect Dirks to possibly compete for a bullpen spot sometime in 2018.
Demoted RHP Mauricio Cabrera from AAA Gwinnett to AA Mississippi
The best player in MLB history named Mauricio is going the wrong way. A glance at his numbers evokes memories of Wohlers and Rocker, except without the sustained major league success prior to collapse.
Placed LHP Michael Mader on the 7-day DL
Mader has been quite good this season despite peripherals that won’t wow you. The inflated walk rate is a concern (5.24 per 9), but without a history of control issues, just keep the red flag at ready instead of raising it just yet. Mader doesn’t strike a ton of guys out, instead relying on weak contact – he has a 53% groundball rate against a tiny 16.3% line drive rate. It has resulted in a .211 batting average allowed and a 3.34 ERA.
Sent RHP Josh Collmenter to R-GCL Braves on rehab assignment
Just when you forgot Collmenter was still in the organization, he finds himself on the comeback trail. Collmenter isn’t on the 40-man roster, so he’s technically working his way back to Gwinnett rather than Atlanta. In 17 big league innings this year, the fly ball pitcher coughed up 7 home runs. Collmenter might have more to offer a big league team, but it’s unlikely to be in Sun Trust Park, which is quite rewarding to lefty batters who elevate the ball.
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