This morning the Atlanta Braves adjusted the bullpen due to injury, added a potential bullpen arm and shuffled the minor league rosters. Here’s the rundown.
Atlanta Braves GM John Coppolella may not be the busiest in baseball – I see you Jerry DiPoto – but the last couple of days have seen a lot of movement at multiple levels.
The Atlanta Braves Bullpen Shuffle
This morning the Atlanta Braves put left hander Eric O’Flaherty on the 10-day DL with a lower back strain. According to Mark Bowman, “back locked up as he was warming up for a possible appearance during Friday night’s win over the Nationals.”
Back issues troubled EOF throughout his career and have never been a long-term issue. He missed five days in 2009, five more in 2011, a couple of days in 2014 and two days at the end of 2015.
To fill his bullpen spot the Braves recalled right hander Luke Jackson from Gwinnett. Jackson came up briefly in April and made three appearances before returning to the G-Braves,
After returning to Gwinnett he made three relief appearances and three starts; his relief appearances were more impressive than his starts. In 4 1/3 innings the hard throwing righty gave up one run on three hits struck out five and walked one.
Speaking of relievers
On My 15th Arizona designated RHP Enrique Burgos for assignment and yesterday the Braves wrote them a check in exchange for his services.
#Dbacks trade RHP Enrique Burgos to the Braves in exchange for cash considerations. Burgos was designated for assignment on May 15.
— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) May 20, 2017
The Diamondbacks signed Burgos as an international free agent back in 2007. At the end of the 2009 season Baseball America rated him the D’Backs #24 prospect. He vanished off their prospect list after that season only to return after the 2014 season at #29. That season also saw him named the best reliever with the best in the A+ California League.
The 2014 season saw Burgos use a “a fastball now up to a lively 99 mph” to strike out nearly 14 per nine while walking just four per nine. Here’s part of the BA scouting report – subscription required – after that season.
"“. . .a live, loose arm, with a max-effort delivery that he doesn’t always repeat. . .a plus slider in the mid-80s. . .to complement the heater. . .profiles as a seventh-inning reliever and is still a bit of a wild card. . .”"
He made 10 appearances in AA at the start of 2015 then moved to AAA Reno for 15 more with a combined 3.70 ERA. That doesn’t look too bad but the reason for his wild card status was pretty obvious; he gave up 23 hits and walked 20 in 24 1/3 IP.
Ups and Downs
He had a cup of coffee with Arizona that year as well but started 2016 back at Reno. He returned to Phoenix for 7 games at the end of April/first of May but gave up seven hits and walked four in 6 2/3 IP and returned to Reno.
You may remember that the Diamondbacks had lots of injuries last season and needed a lot of bullpen help. The upshot was Burgos recall the first week of July and this time he stuck around for the rest of the season thanks to improved control.
Over 34 1/3 IP in 36 games he posted a 5.19 ERA and a 1.153 WHIP striking out 39 and walking 19 and giving up four hoe runs.
The 2017 season found the now 26-year-old, 6’4” 250 pound Burgos back at Reno where he made 11 appearances throwing 13 Innings with a 6.23 ERA and 2.000 WHIP before being released.
This is a case of the Braves hoping they can fix Burgos’ mechanics so that his 99mph is a useful tool instead of a lottery pick.
The acquisition of Burgos required a 40-man roster spot and that was made available by sending Chaz Roe to 60-day DL.
Moving on Up
In case you missed it, in addition to signing James Loney yesterday the Braves promoted Carlos Franco to Gwinnett and activated Dustin Peterson from the DL
You may not know 25-year-old Carlos Franco but perhaps you should. The Braves signed him as an international free agent in 2009 but didn’t get to full season ball until 2013. Franco is nominally a third baseman but this season at Pearl he’s exclusively played first base. Their moving him now because he’s been raking at Pearl .293/.358/.560/.918 including 11 home runs, 7 doubles, 45 strikeouts and 14 walks in 165 PA. ‘’
Atlanta Braves
As much as I’d like to think the young man is on his way to Atlanta I believe reality set in when Freddie Freeman was injured. For two years the Braves used Blake Lalli and Matt Tuiasosopo as a first base combo at Gwinnett. With all due respect to the two career minor leaguers, neither is the future for the Braves nor are they capable replacement for more than a game or two. Moving Franco up gives him a chance to show what he can do and evaluate him at a higher level.
This morning Cristian Pache joined Mississippi to fill out their roster. At 18-years old Pache becomes the youngest player on the M-Braves and I believe the youngest in the league. Pache isn’t here by accident, he’s played well enough to earn it.
BA ranked Pache the Braves #13 to begin his season and started well at Rome. The speedy outfielder has a .283/.345/.376/.721 line with 30 strikeouts and 12 walks in 233 AB. Whether Pache stays in Mississippi or returned to Rome as players continue to move around, this is a big step for the young man and a chance to claim a permanent spot.
That’s a Wrap
Lots of movement today in a lot of places. I’m a little surprised to see Jackson up instead of Mauricio Cabrera but perhaps they want to see more consistency from him before moving him up..
Burgos looks like a lightning in the bottle grab. His reputation is much like Cabrera’s in the minor leagues; lots of gas and an undetermined direction. Hopefully the Braves can turn him around and get some use from that power arm.
Franco and Pache are players I’ll be watching to see how they do.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the trade for Matt Adams that literally just happened a few minutes ago. I’ll get a post up about big Matt in a few minutes.