Atlanta Braves Recall Swanson make minor moves
The Atlanta Braves activated Dansby Swanson this morning. He’ll start tonight against the Marlins.
Dansby Swanson returns to the Atlanta Braves lineup tonight after missing 15 days on the DL.
The Atlanta Braves lineup missed Swanson
In this morning’s post Mark Bowman said that Swanson injured his wrist on a swing during the game against the Mets on May 2nd. Those paying attention know that after a hot start, Swanson had struggled at the plate prior to his DL stint.
Our friends over at Talking Chop looked into it more closely and believe they pinpointed when the injury first occurred.
April 20th versus the Mets. Josh Ravin gives up a double in the top of the 12th to Asdrubal Cabrera. . .Cabrera could (SIC) make third base but inexplicably stops and returns to second. . .But (on his slide) Dansby’s left wrist took a hit.
They support that with data showing “. . .was slashing .342/.381/.544 with 150 wRC+ “ but afterwards “.171/.237/.171 with 15 wRC+.”
Swanson went 4 – 10 in his rehab starts ad hit the ball hard each time.
NOT TOO SHABBY DANSBY!!
— Bally Sports: Braves (@BravesOnBally) May 17, 2018
Dansby Swanson singles in first at-bat of rehab start. #Braves | #ChopOn pic.twitter.com/73P4cWjbQL
In Swanson’s absence Johan Camargo filled in at short and played solid defense. His bat however wasn’t good. So far this season his hitting a feeble .200/.342/.367/.709. Bowman suggests that Camargo’s inability to hit kept Jose Bautista in Atlanta.
Had the switch-hitting Camargo been thriving at the plate . . . the Braves might be less patient with Bautista, who has hit .143 (5-for-35) . .
Swanson’s arrival required a roster move. Surprisingly the Braves sent Matt Wisler back to Gwinnett instead making the inevitable choice between a DFA for Bautista or Charlie Culberson or sending Camargo down to Gwinnett.
The move takes the bullpen back to seven pitchers instead of the eight that started the season.
Minor league pitcher changes
The Atlanta Braves released lefties Oriel Caicedo and Zach Rice. Caicedo signed as an international free agent in 2010 but never made it past A ball . Selected lefty in the 18th round of 2016 Rice started this season in A+ ball, posted a 10.38 ERA and the Braves released him. The Braves also added two minor league arms.
Alex Anthopoulos selected lefty Dan Lietz in the fifth round of the 2013 draft. The Jays converted him to relief in 2016 and he had some success in low A. Promotion to A+ saw his ERA rise sharply and the Jays released him in March.
On Wednesday the Braves claimed lefty Chad Bell off waivers from Detroit. In two short major league opportunities he failed to impress posting a 6.93 ERA, 5.70 FIP, 1.797 WHIP in 28 games – including four starts – during the 2017 season.
This season he made three relief appearances for the Tigers pitching to a 8.59 ERA, 2.182 WHIP but more friendly 3.82 FIP in 7 1/3 IP. Jeff Todd on MLBTR believes he’ll work as a LOOGY.
Odds are he’ll be seen as a lefty specialist or long relief possibility in Atlanta.
He’s on the 40 man roster so that’s possible but his numbers don’t support that very well. Here are his AAA splits – starts and relief appearances combined – from 2016 through this point in 2018.
| BF | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS | BAbip | |
| vs RHB | 1063 | .280 | .351 | .437 | .789 | .322 |
| vs LHB | 485 | .269 | .324 | .352 | .676 | .362 |
While lefties don’t hit for much power against him they do hit. There’s just not much gain against LHH and we have much better options already available. Those numbers scream organizational depth.
Minor league catcher moves
The Braves selected Tanner Murphy as a catcher in the fourth round of the 2013 draft. In five seasons Murphy failed to move above A+ ball because he couldn’t hit. This week the Braves sent his to Giants in exchange for cash.
Catcher Justin Morhardt didn’t last as long as Murphy. Selected in the 17th round last summer he appeared in 19 GC Braves games in 2017 – none this year – and they released him last week.
According to the Atlanta Braves transactions page, back on May 2 they signed catcher Yuta Okazaki. I found him interesting; though he has little chance of making the majors but he’s clearly following a dream.
Born in Tokyo but raised in Greenwich Connecticut, Okazaki attended UConn-Avery Point for two years before transferring to Rollins College in Winter Park Florida.
At Rollins he played middle infield but never hit much. After graduation he began playing independent league ball. Primarily a catcher, he also made appearances at third and short and even pitched twice in 2017.
At some point in September 2017, he spent time working with Atlanta Braves pitching prospects.
The more I catch these Braves minor leaguers, the more I realize how good you have to be to make it #filthy #MilbTalent
— Yuta Okazaki (@yutayuta117) September 28, 2017
It’s unclear how that came about but that was after his team beat Roswell for the league championship. That would have put him in the area and available to workout with prospects awaiting the AZFL.
Hiss Twitter feed ( @yutayuta117) shows he’s a student of the game and shows he’s still trying to get better.
He seems like a fun follow and could easily be one of those guys who eventually slides into coaching at some level.
Others moves
The Braves also released infielder Anfernee Seymour, utility man Christian Colon and one time Blue Jay outfielder Ezequiel Carrera.
Old friend Phil Gosselin returned on May 2nd when the Braves claimed him off waivers from the. That signing probably influenced this weeks release of Colon.
Since coming back they’ve used Goose at second base. At the plate he’s slashing .214/.312/.357 with a home run and four RBI.
Both Colon and Carrera found work this morning, joining the Mets on a minor league deal.
In order to keep a Murphy (and one with the first initial T) in the system, the Braves signed outfielder Taylor Murphy.
Two teams drafted Murphy; the Padres in the 40th round of the 2011 and the Indians – in the 18th round of the 2014 draft.
He started off well for Cleveland but stalled when he reached AA. The Indians released him April 15th and he joined the Braves May fifth.
The 25 year-old outfielder/first baseman started well, appearing in eight games for the Fire Frogs and posting a .259/.375/.556/.931 line with ten strikeouts and five walks and one home run in a small sample size of 32 PA.
That’s a Wrap
I know much of the minor league stuff is trivia but folks wanted to know about the moves and in the process I learned about Okazaki. That in itself was worth digging for.
Swanson’s return bring a better bat to the lineup than we’ve had for a while. The Braves never expected Culberson to hit and while most expected Camargo to regress, no one expected it to be this much.
Camargo’s bat may have saved Bautista for now but he’ll need to hit much better if he’s going to stick around. He was brought in to be a threat but the Marlins walked Ender to get to him, then promptly struck him out. It’s past time for him to go.