As the Atlanta Braves continue to spin the roster wheel, they called up another top prospect on Tuesday in right-handed pitcher Freddy Tarnok.
Due to injuries and two double-headers in one week, Alex Anthopoulos and the Atlanta Braves have been creative in trying to make sure they have fresh arms on the active roster.
Over the weekend in Miami, you saw them call up Bryce Elder, Kyle Muller, and Ian Anderson to make starts and then subsequently option them back down to Triple-A.
Danny Young was added to the roster on Monday, pitched 2.2 innings, and then was optioned.
Taking his place on the roster is 23-year-old pitching prospect Freddy Tarnok.
The Braves went well over slot to sign him out of school with their third-round pick in the 2017 MLB Draft, betting on the potential of the tall and lanky righty.
He has had some ups-and-downs early in his professional career, but really started to put it together in 2021 with a 3.44 ERA and 1.145 WHIP in 73.1 innings with 109 strikeouts pitching at High-A and Double-A.
The numbers are Double-A don’t look great, but he got off to a slow start.
In his last six starts at Mississippi, he gave up 2 earned runs or less in all of them. That continued after he got called up to Gwinnett where he has a 2.03 ERA and 0.93 WHIP in 5 starts with 26 strikeouts in 26.2 innings.
He features a mid-90s fastball, an above-average curve, and a developing slider and change-up.
It will be interesting to see how the Braves use him. He will most likely be there to clean up a potential rough start from Charlie Morton or Jake Odorizzi.
But if he isn’t needed on Tuesday or Wednesday, and Max Fried and Kyle Wright aren’t ready to go on Thursday, we could see him start the Mets series finale.
It’s also been brought up in the past that if Tarnok doesn’t work out as a starter — and that’s still the plan — he could be solid in the bullpen.
The Braves could give him a look as a potential bullpen option down the stretch and in the postseason.
Braves Add Infield Depth
Vaughn Grissom was called up a week ago after an injury to Orlando Arcia who was playing second base because of an injury to Ozzie Albies.
Then Ehire Adrianza hit the injured list leaving the Braves without a backup infielder on the bench.
They filled that void on Tuesday as well adding veteran infielder Ryan Goins to the roster.
Goins has eight years of big league experience, but has a lifetime OPS of just .611.
At Gwinnett this year he’s slashing .221/.250/.272 with no home runs. He is simply with the team for an emergency situation until Adrianza returns.
The Braves also claimed infielder Rylan Bannon off waivers from the Dodgers an optioned him to Triple-A.
Bannon is 26 and was an 8th-round pick by the Lod Angeles Dodgers in 2017. The Dodgers traded him to Baltimore in the Manny Machado deal, and then the Dodgers picked him back up after the Orioles waived him earlier this year.
He played 4 games for the Orioles this year and was 2-14. At the Triple-A level this year he’s slashing .229/.347/.407 with 11 home runs in 78 games.
To make room on the 40-man roster the Braves designated Travis Demeritte for assignment.
He had some big moments for the Braves earlier in the year and we certainly wish him the best going forward as he seems like a great human being.
The depth of the Atlanta Braves is certainly being tested right now, and to this point, they’ve passed that test with flying colors.