Atlanta Braves designate Danny Santana: Recall Michael Reed
By Fred Owens
Pitching depth added at Gwinnett
The same day the Atlanta Braves signed Adams, they added right-handed reliever Fernando Salas.
Salas began his major league career in 2010 with the Cardinals. He started this season with the Diamondbacks and made 41 appearances throwing 40 innings out of their bullpen.
A quick dive into Salas’ peripherals may give a fan fits. After all, a 4.50 ERA and 1.33 WHIP aren’t good for a reliever. A closer look shows what the video perfectly depicts, Salas is a righty specialist.
Salas held right-handed hitters to a .192/.250/.330/.580 line in 29 1/3 IP, striking out 25 of 115 right-handed hitters (21.8%) while walking just six (5%).
A couple of notes
FRIED
Yesterday the Atlanta Braves sent Max Fried out on a rehab assignment. Max last toed the rubber on July 5 so he’ll need three to five starts to get back in the groove… though his 1st outing was superb: 4.2 innings, zero hits, zero runs, 6K, and 3 walks against Indianapolis (Indians).
MARTE
On May 16 the Rangers released shortstop Luis Marte. The Atlanta Braves signed him on May 23.
Marte became a Rangers prospect in 2011 at 17-years old. He kicked around the Rangers’ system reaching AA in 2015 and AAA last season but never really hit well. Perhaps he likes the weather in Mississippi and Georgia better because since donning the Tomahawk he’s been on fire.
In 31 games for the M-Braves, Marte posted a .313/.353/.412 line with a .343 wOBA and 113 wRC+. The Atlanta Braves front office liked that and promoted him to Gwinnett. Since arriving he hasn’t missed a beat, posting a .542/.542/.625/1.167 line in a tiny sample size of 24 PA over six games.
Any time your OBP=BA you haven’t walked at all. He’s also struck out about 16% of the time, a number consistent with his minor league career to date. It’s easy to fall in love with a player like Marte but this line won’t continue. His ceiling looks like a bench player/utility man but he’s been fun to watch so far.
That’s a wrap
I expect more roster moves pretty quickly over the next two weeks. I’ll try to stay on top of them for you and give some insight into who went where for whom.
Bullpen pieces are the likely target and I’ve written about those I like a couple of times. Of course, that means none of them will come to Atlanta.
Next: Things to know for the second half
I’m taking a couple of days off while they open my wrist up and remove the metal they put in last year. I’ll be around and try to chime in when I can, it all depends on how the wrist maneuvers after my orthopod is done with it.
Ed. note – everybody gets a rehab start!