The Atlanta Braves made some small roster moves today, reinstating two players from the injured list while adding some minor league talent to the 40 man roster. Don’t worry, these moves do not mean that they cannot sign anyone else or protect anyone from the Rule 5 Draft.
The #Braves today selected RHP Michael Tonkin and RHP Seth Elledge to the major league roster, while also reinstating C Manny Piña and RHP Huascar Ynoa from the injured list. The club’s 40-man roster is now full.
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) November 10, 2022
For Piña and Ynoa, these moves are purely procedural as the injured list does not exist in the offseason. Manny Piña signed a two year, $8 million deal last offseason to back up Travis D’Arnaud at the catcher position. The veteran backstop collected two hits in 14 at-bats and drove in two runs in five appearances before suffering a wrist injury that cost him the rest of the season. His unfortunate loss was William Contreras’ gain as he took advantage of the playing time on the way to a breakout campaign. Piña is expected to return by Spring Training, where Brian Snitker will have to decide whether or not to carry three catchers or make some difficult roster decisions.
Huascar Ynoa has not been the same since fracturing his hand in 2021. The 24 year old returned to the rotation last year but struggled with command before a shoulder injury ended his season. Ynoa underwent Tommy John surgery in September will miss the 2023 season.
Both Tonkin and Elledge represent relief arms and organizational depth and were added to the 40-man roster to prevent losing them to MiLB free agency. Each signed a minor league deal with the Braves last season and showed the organization enough for the Braves to attempt to hold on to them. Tonkin hasn’t seen major league action since 2017, but had good numbers last year at Gwinnett including a 36.5% strikeout rate, 7.5% walk rate and 50% ground ball rate. Elledge had similar numbers and comes with the added benefit of still having minor league options available.