The Braves introduced a sequence of roster strikes Monday, reinstating catcher Sean Murphy from the injured checklist and recalling outfielder J.P. Martínez. In corresponding strikes, outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. was positioned on the 10-day injured checklist and infielder Joey Wendle was designated for project.
Wendle, 34, was simply signed three days in the past to function a depth infielder for the membership. Nonetheless, Atlanta was delivered a devastating blow yesterday when Acuña tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee. He’ll bear surgical procedure and miss the rest of the 2024 season.
With Acuña out of the image, Atlanta was left with simply Michael Harris II, Jarred Kelenic and Adam Duvall for the outfield. They’ve recalled Martínez immediately to provide them a fourth outfielder, which rapidly nudged Wendle off the roster shortly after being added.
Atlanta will now have every week to commerce Wendle or cross him by way of waivers. The Mets are on the hook for almost all of his $2M wage since they launched him final week. Which means any membership that brings him aboard would solely should pay the prorated league minimal for any time spent on the roster, with that quantity subtracted from what the Mets pay.
Wendle has had some good years as a strong bat who can competently play a number of positions, however he’s been in a tough skid on the plate for some time now. He hit simply .259/.297/.360 in 2022 for a wRC+ of 84 and has been even worse since then. Courting again to the beginning of 2023, he’s hit .213/.247/.300 for a wRC+ of simply 47.
However he’s nonetheless able to bouncing across the diamond, with expertise on the three infield positions to the left of first base and the outfield corners. Even with out a lot offensive output, he’s able to being a glove-first bench piece. He additionally hit .275/.330/.416 from 2017 to 2021, 106 wRC+, which might lend some hope to a bounceback on the plate.
For the second, Atlanta’s roster depth is tenuous, and it wouldn’t be a shock if additional strikes had been coming.
Murphy’s activation offers the membership three catchers, alongside Travis d’Arnaud and Chadwick Tromp. The membership might have optioned Tromp to the minors however maybe felt that might have left them skinny behind the plate.
Murphy is simply returned from lacking round two months resulting from an indirect pressure whereas d’Arnaud missed a while this week after taking a foul ball to the masks and experiencing some dizziness. Maybe the Braves opted to maintain Tromp round whereas they be sure each Murphy and d’Arnaud are wholesome sufficient to play commonly.
Within the meantime, that leaves them with no actual backup infielder. Austin Riley hasn’t performed in about two weeks resulting from some aspect soreness, however the membership hasn’t positioned him on the injured checklist. That has compelled Zack Brief to step in because the common third baseman.
As of now, Atlanta’s bench consists of Riley, two catchers and one outfielder, a minimum of till Riley is ready to return. Maybe Tromp will probably be optioned out for one more infielder shortly, or Riley will return to the lineup and nudge Brief again to the bench.
How the membership decides to play the outfield may even be fascinating to observe. Kelenic and Duvall have been in a platoon this 12 months, since Kelenic is a lefty who hits higher towards righties and Duvall is the alternative. Kelenic has hit .220/.298/.401 towards righties in his profession however simply .189/.254/.309 towards lefties, resulting in respective wRC+ numbers of 96 and 60. Duvall has hit .235/.307/.474 towards southpaws and .230/.285/.468 in any other case, producing respective wRC+ tallies of 104 and 95. With Acuña’s harm, they are going to probably give common enjoying time to these two, with Martínez within the fourth outfielder position.
The 28-year-old Martínez was acquired from the Rangers in January. He has a line of .265/.337/.394 in Triple-A this 12 months, 90 wRC+, stealing 14 bases in 20 tries. Double-digit steal totals have been an everyday characteristic for him for a very long time, together with 41 within the minors final 12 months. He additionally hit .298/.418/.543 in Triple-A final 12 months, for a 133 wRC+, however hasn’t maintained that right here in 2024.
Like Kelenic, Martínez hits from the left aspect and has been higher towards righties this 12 months. He has a .260/.348/.415 line towards righties and .277/.306/.340 towards southpaws this season.
