Atlanta Braves looking for additional reinforcements at the deadline
After the Atlanta Braves acquired a starting pitcher and a jet to get him to Philadelphia for the game, the GM says his search isn’t over.
Sunday the Atlanta Braves acquired Tommy Milone, and in what seemed an acknowledgment that the rotation worried them, chartered a jet to fly him from Buffalo to Philly in time to pitch last night.
Milone’s performance suggests they should have saved the cost of the instant charter flight.
Speaking with reporters after the trade became official, Atlanta Braves GM Alex Anthopoulos said the team continued to look for ways to improve the bench (Twitter link).
The sad condition of the rotation meant fans immediately began to talk about potentially available pitchers. About three hours later another Tweet added another perspective to the team’s search.
#Braves' Anthopoulos on potential addtional trades: "We’re still spending time on bench, some other position players that we view as potential upgrade, and anyone that we feel would be an upgrade to the rotation.”
— David O'Brien (@DOBrienATL) August 30, 2020
Benched
The need to improve bench options is obvious. When they DFA’d Matt Adams to make room for Milone, the remaining bench included Ender Inciarte, Adeiny Hechavarria, Charlie Culberson, and the catcher resting for the day.
Adams offered the only LHH off the bench with any power. He provided one walk-off win this year, but otherwise wasn’t doing much coming off the pine. When he fouled a pitch off his knee Saturday it made him at best a day-to-day option.
None of the remaining bench players is a power threat, and even though this is now a DH centered lineup, a manager needs options from both sides of the dish. The club has Scott Schebler at Gwinnett and may call him up if no other answer presents itself, but he’s not their first choice or he’d be there now.
Related Story. Tommy is here.. light
Speculation about bench bats isn’t a thrilling subject, but another part of the Tweet piqued my interest, the part that said, “other position players that we view as (Sic) potential upgrade.”
Position-player upgrade? Where? Ender is now relegated to a bench role but perhaps they’d like an outfielder to make sure Marcell Ozuna and his glove never have to wander the green, green grass again. However, that’s a job the potential bench bat could handle.
The Atlanta Braves have two positions that rank at or near the bottom in production this year, second base, and third base.
Third base production is less than stellar so far, but over the last 21 days, Austin Riley’s been putting the bat on the ball with better results. In that span, he’s batting .298/.328/.459/.787 and lowered hi K-rate from 31% to just over 25%.
Looking at just the last two weeks the view is even better. His line improves to .333/.381/.513/.894, with a K-rate of 24.3%. While it’s easy to say that might be a mirage, the black hole at second base is real.
Since taking over most of the second base duties when Ozzie Albies went on the IL August fifth, Johan Camargo is batting .164/.197/.329/.526 and striking out 32.4% of the time while walking 2.9% of the time.
His output equates to a .220 wOBA and 31 wRC+. For reference, going into his 0-4 game Sunday, the much embattled Inciarte is batting .208/.301/.278, with a .265 wOBA and 62 wRC+.
We all hoped Albies would return soon but that apparently isn’t going to happen.
Ozzie Albies hasn't taken batting practice on the field yet, "So he's still a aways away," Snitker said. So far just hitting soft-tossed balls and off tee.
— David O'Brien (@DOBrienATL) August 30, 2020
Camargo’s ineptitude and Albies’ prolonged absence appears the motivator for the position player search.
Candidates please!
Before anyone screams Culberson or Hechavarria are the answer, take a deep breath, and relax. Charlie’s a great guy, but he’s not a good defender at any position, nor is he likely to give you significantly better productions than Camargo.
Hechavarria does the defensive half pretty well, and if they can’t find an answer you might see him get more playing time in the hope of getting his bat going. So far this season, in very limited play, he’s hitting on a par with Camargo.
Looking around the league for suitable options a few names appear available for trade: Adam Frazier, Wilmer Flores, Donovan Solano, Jonathan Schoop, Shed Long, and Hanser Alberto.
Alberto is having a great year for Baltimore and we’ve just made a deal with them. However, he’ll require a larger return, which wouldn’t be an issue if the need was permanent, but the Braves expect Albies to eventually have a full recovery, if not this season then in 2021. So, I eliminated Alberto.
Adam Frazier is hitting about the same as Inciarte, making him a non-candidate. The same is true of Seattle’s Long, leaving just three candidates.
The Giants own two of three candidates that fit the Atlanta Braves needs, and unless they believe in miracles will trade one or both of them without expecting a huge return.
Former Met Wilmer Flores seems to find a new home every year and play well. After leaving the Mets in 2018, he batted .317/.361/.487/.828 with a 118 OPS plus and nine homers for the Diamondbacks last season.
He joined the Giants this year and continued to hit well. He’s currently batting .280/.312/.517/.829 with eight homers in 125 PA.
Flores hits pitchers from both sides well. Since the start of last year, he’s batted .326/.360/.645/1.005, hitting12 homers against lefties; and .296/.338/.409/.748 with five homers facing same-sided pitchers.
He’s never struck out more than 15% of the time – he’s at 15.2% this year (19 in118 PA) – but only walks about 4.5% of the time. As usual, he’s played some first and third this season; and like most super-utility players, he’s about league average defensively in most positions, including second base.
At 31-years old, Flores is a seven-year veteran with postseason experience and probably the best of the two utility men they have.
Late bloomer
Solano took eight years – five Major League seasons – to become 2019’s overnight success. after five seams with the Marlins and Yankees, he spent 2017 and 2018 in the minors. The Giants called him up in May last year after injuries ravaged their aging roster. Suddenly, Solano could hit.
Splitting time between second base, shortstop, and third base, Solano batted .330/.360/.456/.815 with four homers in 228 PA.
Players similar to Solano often have these one-year explosions, then fade away. However, Solano has continued to hit well this year, batting .336/.374/.486/.860 with a pair of homers in 115 PA.
His career numbers show a slight reverse split but since coming to the majors in 2019, he’s batting .329/.371/.443/.814 against LHP and .335/359/486/.844 against RHP, although he strikes out more against RHP.
The 32-year-old RHH strikes out slightly more than Flores, but not enough to be a deciding factor. He walks at roughly the same clip as well.
The only true second baseman on this list of potential Atlanta Braves targets is back to the All-Star form he showed in 2017.
Jonathan Schoop was one of the AL’s best second basemen from 2015 through 2017, finishing 12th in 2017 MVP voting and earning his first All-Star call that year as well. Then he forgot how to hit.
In 2018 the Orioles traded him to the Brewers and he ended the season batting a combined .233/.266/.416/.682. He joined the Twins in 2019 and rebounded slightly finishing last season batting .256/.304/.473/.777 with 23 homers and 23 doubles.
He signed with Detroit last winter, and so far this year is doing everything right at the plate. He’s currently batting .296/.336/.504/.840, with seven homers for the Tigers.
Since the start of 2017 (which includes the year he didn’t hit well), Schoop is batting .263/.300/.460/.759 with 58 homers and 60 doubles in 1295 PA against RHP and .278/.331/.501/.832 with 25 homers and 23 doubles in 433 PA against LHP.
From 2017 through 2019, Schoop ranked ninth in outs above average, and depending on your favorite defensive metric he was either league average or well above average.
That’s a Wrap
None of these players should bring a big return to their respective clubs. The Giants and the Tigers played themselves back into contention this weekend, but both front offices know none of the players listed are necessarily the future, and if they are, all will be available to sign after the season is over.
I prefer Schoop because second-base is what he’s always done and he offers more power no matter which hand the pitcher uses. I suspect a B level pitching prospect gets one of them or either team might want to try to fix Camargo.
Next. We'd like Mike!. dark
The deadline is 4 P.M. today; we’ll stay on top of things here at the take and get the news to you when and if the Atlanta Braves make another move – or two – or three.