While it has been known for a while now that the Atlanta Braves were going to be utilizing both Jared Shuster and Dylan Dodd in the rotation to start the season, the exact roster machinations of how they were going to do that were a little tricky. The Braves still have yet to officially place Max Fried on the injured list and the return of Kyle Wright to the big league club has yet to be really firmed up in terms of a timeline.
The Braves ultimately landed on an interesting move to manage the roster, at least in the short term.
The #Braves today selected the contract of LHP Dylan Dodd to Atlanta and optioned LHP Jared Shuster to Triple-A Gwinnett. To make room on the 40-man roster, Atlanta designated OF Jordan Luplow for assignment.
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) April 3, 2023
Atlanta Braves call up Dylan Dodd, option Jared Shuster to Gwinnett
Jared Shuster made his major league debut over the weekend to decidedly middling results. The first inning was one of those nightmare scenarios where he couldn't get anyone out and the wheels started to come off. However, to Shuster's credit, he rebounded to give the Braves nearly five innings of work and settled down the rest of the way even if he didn't looking exactly overpowering out there.
Optioning Shuster to bring up Dodd in preparation of Dodd's own debut this week is an interesting wrinkle. On the surface, it looks rough for Shuster as he would normally have to stay down in the minors for 15 days, but with Fried heading for the injured list at some point, the Braves could use the rules regarding replacing a player placed on the injured list (in this case Fried) to bring Shuster right back up on to the big league roster and not have to worry about that limitation.
To make room for Dodd on the 40 man roster, the Braves designated Jordan Luplow for assignment which is interesting enough all on its own. Luplow seemed to be a prime contender to compete for a spot on the Braves' bench this spring, but an injury to Luplow and better than expected performances from Sam Hilliard and Eli White mean that the Braves may be willing to risk losing Luplow to a waiver claim if it comes to it (plus position players are generally less likely to get claimed this early in the season anyways).