It's been a long and decorated career for Adam Duvall, but many expected his tenure could be coming to a close. The Atlanta Braves activated Michael Harris II from the 60-day injured list on Wednesday, and the corresponding move was an impactful one that could have seen Duvall's tenure come to an end.
However, the Braves decided to hang on to Duvall and instead optioned Eli White back to the minors and designated Parker Dunshee for assignment.
The #Braves today returned OF Michael Harris II from his rehabilitation assignment and reinstated him from the injured list, and optioned OF Eli White to Triple-A Gwinnett. To make room on the 40-man roster, Atlanta designated RHP Parker Dunshee for assignment.
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) August 14, 2024
Duvall suprinsingly safe as MH2 returns to Atlanta
Duvall has had an unlucky season at times, but ultimately the poor results caught up to him. Entering today, Duvall had the second worst fWAR (-1.1) and wRC+ (53) in baseball amongst players with at least 300 plate appearances. The signs to move on have been there for awhile now. However, Duvall's lack of options and the outside chance he could be a useful bat off the bench proved to be enough to keep him around.
Moving White back to the minors is a relatively harmless roster move as Harris' return would have kept him from getting much playing time anyways. Designating Dunshee for assignment is a little bit surprising as he had put up good numbers in Triple-A, but Atlanta is probably betting that his limited track record means that he will make it through waivers and they can slot him back in at Triple-A.
Meanwhile, Atlanta will get a huge boost with the return of money Mike manning centerfield once again. Harris has been sidelined since June 14, when he went down with a hamstring injury. Harris went 10-23 in his rehab assignment with Gwinnett.
Harris' season offensive numbers haven't been what we hoped, but perhaps he can get hot for the Braves down the stretch. Regardless of what he does with the bat, Harris' glove will be a welcomed return to the Braves outfield.
MH2 ranks in the 85th percentile in OAA (3), and 75th percentile in arm strength via Baseball Savant. That defense along with some improvement on his current .250/.295/.358 slash line would go a long way towards stabilizing the Braves outfield.
The unit has struggled for much of the season following Acuña Jr.'s season-ending injury. Hopefully, the return of Michael Harris II and a red-hot Jorge Soler will do wonders for this group. White would've been a nice late-inning defensive replacement for Soler, but it seems they are going to trust the veteran Adam Duvall with that role instead.