With the Atlanta Braves dominating the National League headlines at the trading deadline, there were a few items that may have gone unnoticed.
The Atlanta Braves added to their position player depth and could have yet another reliever coming back to strengthen the pen even further.
Reliever Jacob Webb took a step towards returning to the Atlanta Braves bullpen. After beginning a rehab assignment with the Gulf Coast League Braves on July 29, he pitched a scoreless inning and was transferred to Gwinnett on Wednesday where he pitched another scoreless inning against the Norfolk Tides.
Webb, though never a highly touted prospect, has been a valuable asset to the Atlanta Braves bullpen, but has been sidelined since July 16 with an elbow impingement.
The rookie has been excellent, pitching to a 1.36 ERA with a 1.11 WHIP. He’s converted two of four save opportunities, and struck out 29 batters over 32.1 innings. Hitters have only managed a .205 batting average against the 6-foot-1 righty.
With the Atlanta Braves bullpen consisting of what is likely to be Jerry Blevins, Luke Jackson, Anthony Swarzak, Sean Newcomb to go along with the newly acquired Shane Greene, Mark Melancon, and Chris Martin, Webb would likely force a roster move of some sort.
It’s crazy to think that after the trade deadline today, you now have to scratch your head on how to include a reliever that’s performed as well as Webb.
New, but old minor league depth
Lane Adams should be a familiar name to Atlanta Braves fans since this will be his fourth tour of duty with the team in the last three seasons as Mark Bowman tweeted he was signed to a minor league deal.
He had previously been with the Phillies in spring training and with their Triple-A affiliate, Lehigh Valley before his release.
Towards the middle of the rebuild he provided great speed, good defense, and a solid bat in 2017. That year, he hit a respectable .275, socked five home runs, drove in 20 runs, and stole 10 bases in just 109 at-bats in reserve duty.
In 2018, Adams appeared in 26 games for the Atlanta Braves, was released, signed a minor league contract with the Chicago Cubs, then linked back up the Braves, making the postseason roster and appearing in two games in the NLDS.
Adams will initially join what is still a talented outfield in Triple-A Gwinnett despite the promotion of Adam Duvall to the Atlanta Braves and the trade of Travis Demeritte, who will reportedly make his major league debut with the Detroit Tigers on Friday.
He’ll round out the Gwinnett outfield with two other players with major league experience, Rafael Ortega and Ryan LaMarre.