Will Matt Adams be a Brave in 2018?

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When Freddie Freeman went down, the Braves started Jace Peterson at first and signed James Loney. And for a minute, we thought that was the best the Braves could do. John Coppolella changed that by acquiring Matt Adams from the St. Louis Cardinals for minor leaguer Juan Yepez. While expectations weren't great for Adams, he was clearly an upgrade over in-house options - including Loney who asked for a release. Adams, who had been stuck on the Cardinals bench after they moved Matt Carpenter to first base, would take off after arriving in Atlanta. Over 39 games while Freeman was out, he blitzed the league to the tune of .285/.333/.589 with 12 HR. So good was his performance that when Freeman was ready to return, the Braves took him up on his suggestion and moved their franchise cornerstone to third base just to keep Adams in the lineup.

That would last most of July and while Adams continued to produce, he definitely cooled down. As the calendar changed over to August, the Braves moved Freeman back to first base, leaving Adams to play left field in Matt Kemp's absence or pinch-hit. He's hit just .227 since but has bashed four homers - including two pinch-hit moonshots.

As the season rolls to an end, the Braves have a choice to make with Adams. Let's look at the options:

Trade him: Easier Said Than Done

In 2017, Adams was paid $2.8 million for his services and will be arbitration-eligible for just one more season. He's a career .270/.315/.470 hitter with 75 home runs. He falls under the spectrum of productive, but not so productive that other teams are willing to spend much in terms of assets to acquire him. The Braves traded a corner infielder who has hit just 13 home runs in 201 games and might only profile as a first baseman because his defense at third base is so suspect. First basemen without power don't tend to keep a job for very long (i.e. James Loney).

Adams does have power - a good deal of it - and can hit the ball hard. Adams currently rests just outside the Top 50 in Barrels per plate appearance, which rates the quality of contact. When he puts the bat on the ball, it has a good chance of finding a hole. Does he have .283 ISO-type power, like he has shown this year? It's probably not something he can sustain, but he qualifies as a true power hitter with a career .199 ISO. That's a big boost to his value.

However, several things are working against the Braves as they consider dealing Adams.

• He's platoon-dependent. Over his career, Adams has a .256 wOBA against lefties. It's just as miserable this season at .244. Unfortunately, every team has access to Fangraphs so they also have this information. Acquiring Adams only works if you can match him up with a right-handed hitter who mashes lefties in the Matt Diaz mold. 
• He's position-dependent. Adams is a fine first baseman. He's not gifted at the position by any means, but since 2014, Adams actually profiles better than Freeman as a first baseman (4.8 UZR/150, 17 rPM, 15 DRS). Nobody is paying anyone for first baseman defense, though. Adams has played just 129.1 innings in left field and we simply can't gauge much of anything of his numbers, but the eye test suggests that Adams is probably going to be a negative defensively. It's too much of a stretch to believe he can play anywhere else. He's a first baseman who might play left field for you in a pinch. That limits his value to NL clubs who know they are going to have to platoon him. The AL teams that could have interest do have the DH, which opens up more possibilities.
• He's under team control for just 2018. The Braves paid next-to-nothing to acquire Adams and that was with a year-and-a-half of team control. The team acquiring Adams will have even less.

None of these conditions will erase any chance the Braves have of trading Adams, but they certainly limit the opportunities. One thing could work in their favor, though. Of the 21 full-time qualified first basemen this season, five are free agents. Two others, Lucas Duda and Mike Napoli, didn't qualify but have been regulars in the lineup and could also be free agents this offseason (Napoli has an option). Further, a DH like Carlos Beltran will also hit the open market. In addition, the Angels are a team that might entertain the idea of improving their first base production after a combined 0.7 fWAR from C.J. Cron, Luis Valbuena, and Jefry Marte. Suffice it to say, the market is theoretically available for Adams.

That said, a number of open jobs at first base/DH doesn't mean the same thing as open jobs in center field or at shortstop, positions where the market is depressed by so few capable players at the position. A number of the free agents this offseason with history at first base were also free agents last year. This is because most teams look at first base in this regard - it's great if you have a Freeman, but if you don't, you can find something that will work. You don't even need to be in a rush. The Rays signed Logan Morrison a week before spring training for nearly $2 million less than they paid him the previous year. It worked out pretty well for them and they weren't alone. The first base market rarely invites huge paydays because teams can just wait it out and go bargain shopping.

With Adams likely to earn $4M to $5M in arbitration, would any team really spend assets to acquire a guy that resembles several free agents that are already available and won't require a prospect? For that matter, they could be even cheaper than Adams. This is a problem the Braves will face in regards to dealing Adams this winter.

Non-Tender Him: But Why?

The Braves could see Adams as a luxury they can do without and simply non-tender him to open a 40-man roster spot. Such a decision would be a mistake in my view.

At $5M or so, Adams is an expensive bench piece, but the Braves will probably be able to deal with that. If they don't sign a third baseman - and Ronald Acuna takes over in right field as many expect - the Braves will open the season with half of their position starters earning the major league minimum. It would be a fair assumption that two of their rotation members will also make the minimum. Paying $5M for a bench player becomes much more bearable when you aren't spending heavily at other positions.

Beyond that, Adams does have value - value that would be wasted as a non-tendered free agent. I mentioned many of the negatives earlier because that hurts his trade value, but his offensive value is still quite apparent as he has a .335 wOBA since 2013. That ranks 74th among 238 players and it's better than Adam Jones, Beltran, Todd Frazier, and Evan Gattis. And since we know that he's a platoon player, we can reasonably assume that his wOBA would only look better if you limited it to facing right-hand pitching. And why assume when we can just look it up? Since 2013, Adams' .355 wOBA against right-hand pitching ranks 59th of 482 players (min. 370 PA against RHP).

If the Braves were in a financial crunch, I'd understand non-tendering Adams if a trade market never materialized - which is a real possibility. But I don't believe Atlanta will have to worry about that so why not keep Adams? Further, perhaps a trade market would come together as players go down or don't perform after spring camp opens up. Regardless, just cutting Adams is short-sighted and I think more of John Coppolella than that.

Keep Him: Cause Why The Hell Not?

If the Braves can't trade Adams and non-tendering him is a dumb move, that leaves the third option - keep him. And frankly, it might be the best option available even if Atlanta gets much interest in Adams this offseason.

The Braves are unlikely to trade Matt Kemp this winter. It'd be great if they can, but the sheer amount of financial responsibility the Braves would have to shoulder just to unload Kemp might be too much for the Braves to accept. Trading Nick Markakis to open up a spot for Acuna seems like the easier and more likely play. That leaves Atlanta to hope Kemp loses all the weight, keeps it off, and performs once again. Pretty much the same thing they hoped for last winter.

Whatever the case, the Braves seem stuck here. Here's the thing, though. If you are willing to play Kemp in left field with all of his atrocious defense, why wouldn't you also be willing to play Adams out there? Both players need a defensive caddy (Hi, Lane Adams!) and with Kemp seemingly always dealing with hamstring and knee issues, having Matt Adams' bat around could be useful for the Braves. Yeah, the defense sucks, but honestly, Adams could be better than Kemp defensively. Here's a fun stat for all of you Josh Browns of the world. Sprint speed is measured by feet per second. 447 players qualify currently and ranking 398th is Kemp with a sprint speed of 25.6 ft/sec. Adams is slightly quicker at 26.1 ft/sec. While speed isn't everything (Ender Inciarte ranks 173rd overall), there's at least an argument that Adams is a comparable - maybe even better - left fielder than Kemp. Probably not better, but Kemp is so bad that Adams can't be any worse. Presumably, with even more time in left field, Adams stands a shot at improving. Not a good one, but we know Kemp isn't going to get any better.

Pinch-Hit Homers by the Braves

Remember when I said that keeping Adams maybe even better than trading him? Think about what the Braves might get for trading Adams. Well, we don't really know that, but we can make the reasonable assumption that it won't be greater than what the Braves gave up to originally acquire him. That would mean Atlanta would likely receive a borderline Top 75 prospect in this organization. Probably something between what they received for Jaime Garcia (Huascar Ynoa) and Brandon Phillips (Tony Sanchez). Now, that player could be a fun project, but it's probably going to be a guy who won't ultimately play for the Braves or turn into a good tradeable asset. And by the way...the Braves' lower minor league teams are already packed with project players.

Keeping Adams gives the Braves a bat off the bench - something they lacked when the 2017 season opened - who provides depth at 1B and LF. That depth could be important when you consider that Freeman has missed about 80 games to injury over the last three years (including a healthy 2016). Conversely, Kemp bends over and misses two weeks. That's being mean, but having Adams for depth could be useful to help the Braves should either player go down. Further, Adams could fetch a better prospect from a desperate team later. That last part is wishful thinking, but it's not impossible.

In the end, short of being surprised on the trade market this offseason, the best bet is to keep Adams moving forward into the 2018 season. Do you agree? Let me know in the comment section.

Transaction Tuesday - Wisler, Demeritte, Mader, Custred

Lots of moves involving the top teams in the organization this week with just a few notable moves coming from the low minors. Most of them involve Rome, who continue to utilize some creative roster management to deal with tired arms. Trying something new this week with a super-sized spotlight bit on one of the players profiled.

*The moves covered in this edition of Transaction Tuesday cover August 15 to August 21. A number in parenthesis represents the player's ranking in the midseason WOW Top 50.

Atlanta

U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Anthony Hewitt/Released via Wikipedia Commons

SPOTLIGHT - Recalled: Matt Wisler...Switching Matt Wisler to the bullpen full-time has long been advocated by some of the more sabermetrically-inclined Braves fans. A big reason for this was despite all his flaws, one thing Wisler has done well since coming to the majors is throw a plus-plus slider. He doesn't get ridiculous spin rate on the pitch, ranking just 85th over the last three years among pitchers who have thrown at least 500 sliders, but he controls it well. He doesn't have enough innings to qualify, but since 2015, Wisler's wSL/C of 0.71 would rank just outside the Top 30 in baseball.

The problem has been his other pitches - specifically his changeup and curveball. Neither translated well to the majors and subsequently, both have led to a lot of extra base knocks over the last three years. In fact, of the 24 times a hitter has put one of his changeups in play, nearly half have become hits. As a result, Wisler's numbers have steadily worsened as hitters adjusted to lay off his slider. This was particularly problematic as the game went on. While the pendulum almost always favors the hitter the more times he sees the same pitcher in a ball game, Wisler's numbers flatlined the longer he stayed in. The first time through the order, hitters had a 89 tOPS+, which is adjusted for a player's own split. By the second time, it jumped to 102 and then 111. Of particular concern was the ISO that increased from .171 to .191 to .220 by the third time through the order.

About a month ago, the Braves decided it was time to change course with their righty. While his splits don't look good regardless of the time through the order, the Braves saw a pitcher who was trying to establish his other pitches early in the game to be able to go to them later. It didn't help, though. His curve and changeup had little effect. When a pitcher can't spot or induce weak contact on more than one secondary pitch, the simple solution is to move him to the bullpen, which is what the Braves did. While Wisler had been used as a reliever in other outings this year to little success, the difference now was the Braves weren't just using him out of the pen as a fresh arm before he headed back to Gwinnett to be a starter. Now, he would be a reliever full-time.

With two outings in the book, we are seeing a few changes. Number one, he hasn't thrown a changeup. Considering his lack of any success with the pitch, that's a good thing. He's also using his four-seamer and curve as show-me pitches. These changes lead to a reliance on his sinker and slider, which is exactly the type of profile that could lead to Wisler sticking around for the long term. He dominated the Reds, needing just 36 pitches to retire 9-of-11 batters he faced during the weekend. Even more impressive than that game was the latter half of two outings in two days. There's something here and hopefully, the Braves let Wisler sink-or-swim over the rest of the season and there's reason to believe he'll swim.

Recalled and Demoted to Gwinnett: Micah Johnson...I liked the idea of Johnson off the bench, but he's only been used as a pinch hitter over four games spanning two callups. The Braves just don't seem anxious to give him much of a look right now.

Activated: Matt Kemp...The Braves brought back their DH to play LF, which significantly limits the time for their 1B/DH in Matt Adams. Oh, well. Kemp got off to a big start and much was made about his conditioning efforts, but nagging injuries sapped him of much of his offensive game before a trip to the DL. His defense, which is atrocious, continues to a problem for the team and wary of losing his bat late in games, the Braves seem uncomfortable with lifting him for a better glove. Kemp is owed a lot of money over the next two seasons and at this point, it seems like the Braves are saddled with him short of a big run. Well, at least he's not Hector Olivera, right?

Activated: Dan Winkler...Winkler made his return to the majors and retired the only batter he faced Monday while stranding a runner. It won't stand out on a box score, but the road back to the majors has been tough for Winkler. He was in the midst of a second rehab stint after the first one was exhausted with Winkler still needing more time coming back from a fractured elbow. He was shut down for several weeks before returning on August 6. Over his next five appearances, Winkler allowed five singles over five innings with five strikeouts. At least he was consistent. It was also significantly improved over the seven runs over five innings before being shut down. Winkler has a violent delivery, but legit stuff and very good control. If he's able to harness it over the next six or seven weeks, the Braves might have an interesting choice to make as I discussed last week in regards to bringing him back next season.

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Optioned: Rex Brothers...The Braves basically got the Rex Brothers Experience - though he was very unlucky (52% left-on-base percentage?). He struck out a bunch of batters, walked too many, and gave up too many homers. Basically, the same stuff he's done since his solid 2013 season. Now, a lot of that was sample-size driven and his 3.91 FIP/3.97 xFIP suggests his 7.63 ERA would have normalized over time, but I'm happy with this demotion as I feel the Braves are wasting too many spots on veterans with little hope of being brought back in 2018. Brothers will be arbitration-eligible this offseason, but it seems unlikely he'll be in the mix for a return. In the mean time, the Braves get some time to make a decision on Winkler. Win, win.

DL'd: Luke Jackson (right shoulder strain)...The Braves have done something the Rangers could not - get Jackson to throw strikes. However, it also seems it hurt his strikeout rate in the process with as it has plummeted to 16%. Overall, Jackson has looked much like a replacement-level arm than a hot prospect. In that, Jackson's case is similar to Chris Withrow. When the latter was acquired, he was hurt, but the scouting reports were that he had a tremendous, sometimes wild, arm and could be a high leverage reliever down the road. The Braves ultimately chose to non-tender Withrow this offseason after a forgetful season of a low strikeout rate and a 4.90 FIP. Jackson has been better - largely due to better control - but the results are still poor. Unlike Withrow, though, Jackson won't be arbitration-eligible and the nearly 26-year-old should return for 2018 if the Braves don't need his roster spot more.

DL'd: Danny Santana (left quad strain)...Santana has had a few good runs here-and-there, but overall, he's been just as bad as he was in 2015 and 2016. So, how did his 2014 slash of .319/.353/.472 happen? Part of it was that the league hadn't adjusted to him, but a much bigger part was a .405 BABIP. Santana has been worth -2.3 fWAR since his rookie season and should not be a guy taking up a roster spot when other younger and potentially more valuable guys are in the minors looking for their shot. What is disheartening about Santana's presence on the team is that Brian Snitker, the Braves manager, seems to have an affinity for the man. During a recent four-game series in Colorado, Santana started all four games. Some of that was due to the fact that Matt Adams was deemed unable to play left field in the expansive Coors Field outfield. But for three of those games, a much better option in Lane Adams was left on the bench. Much like when Emilio Bonifacio was on the roster, Snitker seems to have an undeserved love for Santana that leads to far too much playing time. As a result, it falls on John Coppolella to not enable such poor judgment by having Santana on the team.

Gwinnett
Promoted from Mississippi: Luis Valenzuela...Acquired back in 2015 in the Jonny Gomes trade, Valenzuela only recently returned from the DL after a month on the shelf and wasn't lighting it up at Mississippi so this promotion wasn't that expected. When he was acquired, Valenzuela was hitting the cover off the ball, but over the last two seasons - much of which has been lost to injury - Valenzuela has not done all that much with the bat. A left-hand hitting infielder, Valenzuela is a good glove man, though his limited range keeps him from playing a competent shortstop. At the plate, Valenzuela has yet to see a pitch he didn't like, though with one more walk this season, he will match his career-best total set back in 2013. He walked 14 times that season. Valenzuela has a little pop, but overall, the numbers just aren't there.

Promoted from Florida: Sal Giardina...Old Sal's demotion to Florida was mentioned last week. What remains interesting about the demotion was Giardina never caught with Florida, something that may have more to do with their current catchers than Giardina himself. Not sure where he fits in with Gwinnett, who have Kade Scivicque and David Freitas behind the plate and an already crowded infield situation. Perhaps it's just where there was an open spot?

Activated: Josh Collmenter...He made his much-anticipated Gwinnett debut last week with a pair of solid starts. Like you could ever forget, but Collmenter joined the Braves last September and made three starts in the majors. He was good enough to earn a return via arbitration and as the rotation took shape, Collmenter was ticketed for the long relief role. He held the role until being designated for assignment in late May. He'll be a minor league free agent at the end of the year provided the Braves don't bring him back up for depth purposes next month.

DL'd: Emerson Landoni...DL, Activated, DL, activated, DL, activated, DL, activated, demotion, promotion, DL. That's been this season for Landoni, who has played just 33 games and hit a combined .181/.243/.181 with Gwinnett and Mississippi. He's been floating around professional baseball since 2006 and first joined the Braves back in 2012. Since then, his best single-season OPS is .728. I'm sure he keeps the clubhouse loose, though.

DL'd: David Peterson...A righty out of the College of Charleston, David Peterson has been an organizational favorite who has continued to stick around despite some mediocre numbers along the way. A 2012 pick, Peterson, leads Gwinnett with seven saves and this is the third season he's played with the Braves' top minor league team.

DL'd: Dustin Peterson (#20)...2017 will likely go down as a lost campaign for Peterson, which is very sad considering what he did last year. Peterson is still very young and won't turn 23 for another few weeks so he'll be back for next season. The hamate bone fracture from spring training has been slow to heal completely and last week, he was hit-by-a-pitch again. I'm not sure how bad it was, but he was immediately removed and placed on the DL soon after. Peterson has hit .255/.327/.328 this season, though he's hit left-handers with much better results (in significantly fewer PA, of course).

Mississippi

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Activated: Travis Demeritte (#12)...On the fortunate side, Demeritte only missed ten days on the DL. His return has seen the second baseman, who has struggled nearly all season, go 6-for-21 with a double, four walks, and five Ks. That actually continues a solid start to August that preceded his DL assignment as Demeritte is hitting .279/.380/.488 over 50 PA this month. That's a huge improvement over his June and July numbers in which he hit .165/.243/.312 with 60 Ks in 190 PA. The Braves would love nothing more than to see Demeritte finish strong, which makes their decision on whether or not they should protect him in the Rule 5 draft much easier. Nobody doubts the impressive combination of power and defense, but will he hit enough? I still believe he will, but it's been a very tough season, to say the least.

Activated: Michael Mader...The belief heading into this season was that the Braves had stolen Mader off the Marlins. Unfortunately, his results haven't supported that belief and his return after nearly a month on the DL didn't show any signs of that changing. He faced six batters and retired just one. The other five scored. He walked a pair, continuing a season-long issue with free passes in which his walk rate is double what it was last season. This looks like a potentially lost season for Mader, who will be eligible for the Rule 5 draft and could interest some teams out there as a lefty with projection.

Florida
Demoted from Mississippi: Andres Santiago...Santiago's first move this year was an assignment to Florida. His demotion last week was the 15th move of this season for the righty, who spent much of the spring on the Team Puerto Rico WBC team as an alternate. Santiago has been pitching professional ball since 2007 with little success mixed in. His value to the Braves is similar to Rudy's value to Notre Dame. The Braves can simply say that his "greatest value to is we don't care whether you get hurt."

Rome
Promoted from Danville: Matt Custred...Most of the following demotions/promotions are related to roster manipulation as Rome has thrown a lot of innings over the last couple of weeks. I mentioned last week when he was "demoted" that Custred has actually earned a promotion up the ladder. He continued to show why with three more scoreless innings this week and four strikeouts. That gives him a 1.04 ERA/2.47 FIP on the year with a 33% strikeout rate. Considering he's repeating Rome, it's really puzzling why he hasn't received a promotion to Florida when 27-year-old journeymen like Santiago are struggling in the FSL. With the season winding down, we might not see Custred in high-A until next year, though it also wouldn't surprise me much to see him jump to Double-A with a good spring.

Demoted to Danville and promoted back: Walter Borkovich...This wasn't the usual "demotion to give him a few days" as Rome manipulates the roster as The Bork made a triumphant return with Danville. Before that, he threw three innings on August 15th in one of Rome's marathon games last week (which also included a double header). While down with Danville, Borkovich made his first appearance for the D-Braves in nearly three weeks and worked around an error to strike out the side for his second APPY save. He returned two days later to Rome and surrendered a walk-off single with the run charged to Ryan Schlosser. Borkovich is a personal favorite in that the righty went undrafted out of Michigan State and all he's done since is post a 1.29 ERA over 21 innings with three walks and 23 strikeouts. To be fair, Borkovich is not a scout's dream. He doesn't really have a plus pitch, which is why he wasn't one of the 1200 or so players selected in June. But to this point, he hasn't let that hold him back. Perhaps a scout saw something no one else did. Whatever the case, Borkovich is clearing his first hurdle - showing he belongs.

Demoted to Danville and promoted back: Jon Kennedy...First, I believe that this Braves nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing an Australian man with a famous name in the majors. Jon Kennedy is one of my little prospect crushes. He has some talent, but maybe not enough to be a high leverage arm in the majors. That said, the youth lefty who impressed a member of Melbourne in the Australian Baseball League has been very successful over the last two seasons. 2016 was a season for him to get his feet wet. He pitched mostly with Rome with a four-game stop in Danville and even a one-game cameo in Carolina. This season, he has logged nearly 70 innings - almost exclusively out of the pen - for Rome. He won't blow you away with his strikeout numbers, but he has a Greg Maddux-like _FIVE_ walks on the year. Strangely, he has as many wild pitches as he does walks. He keeps the ball on the ground (57%) and has matched a 2.84 ERA with a 2.80 FIP/2.98 xFIP. Rome is flush with some very successful arms this year coming out of the bullpen and Kennedy might not be the most deserving of a promotion (that honor falls on Custred or Thomas Burrows), but as long as Kennedy is rolling, he's a guy that could get to the majors before the end of this decade at least in a specialist role - though that doesn't line up with his splits stats.

Danville
Promoted to Rome and demoted back: Landon Hughes...Called up for a fresh arm, Hughes made his Low-A debut last week and surrendered two runs, one earned over 1.1 innings. He was uncharacteristically wild, throwing just 22 strikes out of 39 pitches and walking three. Considering he walked just three over his previous nine appearances, ranging 12.2 ING, we'll chalk it up to first-time jitters and/or everything being new. He gave up two more runs three days later in his return to Danville as the Princeton Rays took advantage of Alan Crowley to swipe two bases in the ninth and score the tying and eventual winning runs. From my own personal experiences, I've seen both the Good Hughes and Not-So-Good Hughes. The latter nibbles and pitches himself into trouble. The former is confident and combines a good breaking ball with a lively fastball. In one game I watched, he was easily the most impressive Danville pitcher that I saw. The righty is tall and has some solid overall marks with Danville this season - 1.50 ERA over 18 innings, 5 walks, 22 Ks. A 7th rounder in June, Hughes could be a nice little relief prospect moving forward.

Demoted from Rome: Bladimir Matos...Another move made largely due to last week's crazy collection of games, including a 16-inning affair. Matos tossed four big innings that night, getting the game to the 15th inning with no runs allowed. He walked four so he wasn't super effective, but no runs scored and it allowed infielder Kurt Hoekstra the opportunity to throw two innings for the win after Rome scored six in the top of the 16th. Matos has appeared in 36 games with Rome this year and wildness have continued to plague him with a 12% walk rate. Even though he struck out just one in his four innings during his last game with Rome before this "demotion," Matos is riding the best K-rate of his career by striking out 27% of all batters. Matos is not a big prospect, but the righty is doing what he needs to do to stay in the Braves' good graces.

GCL:
Demoted from Danville: Connor Johnstone...A 21st-rounder out of Wake Forest, Johnstone made three starts in Danville to open the season. There was no move announced, but after being removed on July 6 after just two frames, Johnstone was not heard of for the next month-and-a-half until he showed back up on the transaction page last week. It suggests an injury, but hard to tell as Johnstone doesn't have much of a social media presence that I know of. Johnstone was one of the ACC's best pitchers this year and even threw a Maddux (96-pitch) against Miami. He didn't have big strikeout numbers in college, but a cutter he added to his game this year was a big reason he went from un-draftable to the 21st round. Surprisingly, he got off to a good start with strikeouts as a professional, picking up 12 of them in 10 innings with Danville. He was also hurt by the gopher ball, surrendering two which helped to lead to six runs. He's yet to pitch for the GCL club.

DSL:
Assigned: Jose Olague...The Braves made up for their signing bonus restrictions this J2 period by going the quantity route. Olague is an 18-year-old with nearly no information related to him. I can tell you that Olague comes from the Basque word "ola," which means "forge." Man, scraping the bottom of the barrel here. @FONZY541 suggested that Olague may be from Mexico after one bearing the same name was on the Naranjeros de Hermosillo roster as a 15-year-old a few years ago. Either way, Olague had a successful professional debut last week, tossing a pair of scoreless innings with two Ks against one of the Red Sox farm clubs.

Yet Another Ronald Acuna/Andruw Jones Piece - But This One is Different!

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I am on the record with this. I love Ronald Acuna. He makes my heart flutter. When he hits a home run, to quote Bowling for Soup, "all the wind blows and the angels sing." He's the greatest thing since sliced bread. In fact, he's like pretzel bread, which as we all know, improves bread to another level. Ronald Acuna is hope and hope is good.

But the Braves have, as our own Stephen Tolbert said a few weeks back, a corner outfield problem. Worse, it is a problem that could - I repeat, could - continue into 2018. Where would Acuna fit in if the Braves are incapable of finding a trading partner willing to take on Matt Kemp's salary and/or Nick Markakis's...Markaisian averageness? Should the Braves simply take their losses and release Kemp or Markakis (likely the latter) just to open up a spot for Acuna? Should he stay in the minors until the Braves find a taker for one of their older corner outfielders - despite unreal numbers this season?

Here's the thing, Braves fans. The Braves don't have to have an either/or. They can have a team next year that includes Kemp, Markakis, and Acuna. Just so you don't freak out, Ender Inciarte also fits into this arrangement. And what's even better is that the Braves have done it before

You've probably seen a lot - and I mean A LOT - of comparisons between Andruw Jones and Acuna. Both climbed from A-ball to Triple-A in their Age-19 seasons. Both were dynamic outfielders and elite prospects in baseball. Whether these comparisons are fair or not, they are inevitable. There are just too many similar factors here. And why stop now? Why not follow what the Braves did in 1997 with the then 20-year-old Andruw Jones? Why not use Acuna as the fourth outfielder for a year?

I know what you're thinking - the Braves won't do that because Acuna is too valuable to be wasted in a fourth outfielder role. It's also difficult to see a possibility where Acuna isn't better than either Kemp nor Markakis in 2018. And for the record, I don't mean Acuna should be the fourth outfielder in a way Lane Adams is a fourth outfielder. I mean only to use Acuna like Andruw Jones was used in 1997.

Let's flashback to that year for a second. While every Braves fan remembers 1996 and Andruw homering twice in the Bronx during the World Series, the Braves didn't hand the young man a spot in the starting lineup to begin 1997. It's why Michael Tucker had an opportunity to hit the first home run in Turner Field history. The Braves opened the season with a platoon between Tucker and Andruw. When he wasn't in the starting lineup, Andruw would play often in a pinch-hitting/defensive replacement role. Of the first 25 games, he played in 24. He remained in that timeshare until mid-June, when Kenny Lofton went down with an injury. It allowed Andruw the shot to play nightly. When Lofton returned, Andruw was relegated back into his backup role, filling in against left-hand pitching, playing defense in right and left, and occasionally spelling Lofton in center field. He started 96 games - fewer than Tucker, Lofton, and Ryan Klesko - but more than one might expect for a fourth outfielder. He also played an additional 51 games in the field for a total of 147 games of experience in the outfield. Add that with six more games in a pinch-hitting capacity and Andruw Jones actually finished second on the 1997 Braves in games played.

Now, does this situation compare to a potential 2018 Braves' squad? You better believe it. Consider these two scenarios.

Scenario #1 - The Braves Can't Find a Taker for Kemp

This possibility is a likelihood at this point. Many who questioned the Hector Olivera trade last summer pointed out that Kemp's value was only going down. This season, he has been a replacement level player due to atrocious defense and bad baserunning metrics. His offense isn't bad (though a rising groundball rate is troubling), but the belief that he was a changed man after coming over from the Padres is a bit overblown. He's essentially the same player as he was in 2015, his first season in San Diego.

Kemp has been durable to an extent, but many would argue that has been to the club's detriment. Kemp plays hurt - largely because his knees are shot and though he's still just 32, it seems like he's much older. Still, he averaged 153 games in the three years before this so he knows how to stay in the lineup. Two trips to the DL this season, though, and nagging injuries throughout the season point to the possibility that his 150-game seasons might be a thing of the past. That's actually not the worst thing, by the way. Players with Kemp's issues need regular rest to make them better able to deal with a long season.

Since the Braves are unlikely to find a team with much interest in sharing the burden of the nearly $40 million the Braves are on the hook for over the next two seasons, Kemp seems likely to return in 2018. Wouldn't it be nice to have both a capable defender able to hide Kemp in late games and a capable hitter able to contribute offensively? Do you really feel it's out of the realm of possibility that Atlanta will need a contingency plan should Kemp miss a month or more of the 2018 season? Acuna provides a ready replacement.

There's also the possibility of keeping Matt Adams and giving him at-bats to keep Kemp fresh. I'm not sure that it makes a lot of sense to keep two guys who still couldn't cover left field even if MLB allowed the Braves to play both at the same time, but I understand the whole "if Kemp is bad at defense, does it matter that Adams also is?" Nevertheless, the team could still use a defensive replacement for either.

Scenario #2 - Markakis Attracts a Lukewarm Market

Nick Markakis (2015-Present)
vs.	AVG	OBP	SLG	wOBA	wRC+
RHP	.290	.378	.412	.341	112
LHP	.256	.308	.324	.280	71

Since coming to Atlanta, Nick Markakis has wRC+ of 71 and a .280 wOBA against left-hand pitching. That's abysmal. Hiding that with Acuna would definitely be useful in a world where Markakis might not attract a lot of attention on the open market should the Braves attempt to deal him. Further, Markakis's defense, while not as severely detrimental to the team as Kemp's, remains an issue for Atlanta.

The Braves could - and probably would - be open to paying down some of Markakis's $10.5M remaining salary, but for what? A no-name prospect? Say what you will about Markakis and I have, but the guy is consistent, durable, and consistent. Yes, I know I said that twice, but compliments work best in threes and I couldn't think of another one. With the very real possibility of Kemp going down for significant time in 2018, do the Braves really want to lose Markakis, who again is durable (and consistent)?

Now, you might say that these two scenarios don't exist in a vacuum and you would be right. The Braves could trade Markakis, for example, and sign a good enough outfielder or platoon Dustin Peterson and Lane Adams to deal with any possible injury to Kemp. For that matter, Kemp could stay relatively healthy. Furthermore, Matt Adams is the mix as well (though his numbers have fallen considerably since his big start with the Braves). You might even say, "why put off the inevitable? Ronald Acuna is the future and the future is ready to begin."

It's a tough argument to counter. Playing Ronald Acuna every day is certainly more exciting than watching either the consistently durable Markakis or the kneeless Kemp meander around the outfield. But is it best for the player? I'll use two examples here. First, let's look back at Andruw Jones. He spent a year playing nearly every game, but only starting slightly more than half. Did it stunt his growth? Not even a little. He improved across the board the following season and was an All-Star three years later. While many would argue that Andruw never reached the potential we set out for him, it didn't change the fact that he had a very productive - and possibly Hall of Fame worthy - career.

The other example is Dansby Swanson. Like Acuna, Swanson was an exciting player who rushed through the minors. He was hyped up as the future Derek Jeter and a frontrunner for the 2017 Rookie of the Year. But baseball happened. Now, the Braves are simply trying to jump-start Swanson so he can pivot into 2018 on a high note. If such a thing happened to Acuna, wouldn't it be nice to be able to have Markakis and Kemp in-house? Sure, neither are world beaters, but what are the chances that another Johan Camargo bails out the Braves here?

In the end, I would simply say this - I love Acuna as a player. I want only success for the young man. I believe in him. I also think that maybe the best way of bringing him to the big time is in a smaller role. Again, I'm not saying give him 200 plate appearances like you might a typical fourth outfielder. He'd play often as a platoon bat in right field, keeping Kemp fresh in left field, and giving Inciarte breathers in center field. He'd be part of the mix, not a traditional backup. And either through a midseason trade of Kemp or Markakis or the latter leaving after 2018, Acuna would simply slide into a starting spot.

It worked for Andruw. More than 20 years later, it's time to try it again with Acuna.

Making Sense of Yesterday's Roster & Lineup Decisions

G-Braves Media

It was already going to be a big day as far as major league debuts go, but the surprising afternoon news of another new addition to the list of players to play in the bigs was a bit confusing at first. The decision to bring Ozzie Albies to the major leagues yesterday was given some context as the day went on.

Albies WAS NOT brought to the majors for an injury. He WAS NOT brought to the majors for to spend some time around the team. He WAS NOT even brought to the majors because the Braves needed depth. He WAS brought in as Brandon Phillips' replacement at second base. Quite simply, the Braves decided to bring Albies up to be the difference maker we believe he can be.

But that wasn't the only decision the Braves made yesterday. Let's look at each decision and what they mean for the Braves over the next couple of months.

The big news of the day was originally going to be Lucas Sims Day. One of the last holdovers from the Frank Wren regime, Sims was essentially handed Jaime Garcia's spot in the rotation after a brief reminder that Aaron Blair is unlikely to be the guy. Unless "the guy" is defined to mean "remember the guy who also came over with Dansby Swanson and Ender Inciarte?"

Sims went six innings while allowing six hits, including a homer, and three runs. He walked nobody and struck out three. He also got a pickoff and might have had a better night had Tyler Flowers not air-mailed a throw to third or had Danny Santana not gone all Roger Dorn on a hard grounder. Even with that in mind, it was the kind of game Braves fans have been clamoring for from the bounty of young starters the team has loaded up on for the last few years.

Regardless of what the future may hold for the young righty, the overall impression of Sims being in the majors is a good one. The right-handed fireballer had taken a big step forward this year and earned his right to join Sean Newcomb in the rotation. Atlanta needs to figure out what they have in these guys at some point and with the Braves effectively admitting the season is over, it's time to look toward 2018. Guys like Sims, Newcomb, and Albies will hopefully all be in the mix for that team.

And speaking of Albies, he went hitless in his debut, though he did walk in three trips to the plate. Surprisingly, before last night, the only two Braves to make their big league debut this season for a team very much in a youth movement were Johan Camargo and Newcomb. That total was doubled last night and the smart money suggests others are on their way.

The choice of Albies - at this moment - was a bit of a head scratcher, but let's put this into perspective. The Braves did not deal Brandon Phillips at the trading deadline. That's not to say they won't trade him this month as his contract will certainly pass through waivers, but as of right now, Phillips remains a Brave. That speaks to a shallow market for sure, but could it speak to something else? Could the Braves have had a deal on the table for Phillips that would send him elsewhere only for the second baseman to use his partial no-trade clause to block it?

The most likely answer is the one that Brian Snitker provided - "We got Brandon and he’s been really, really good. But it’s time to see the kid.”

What does this mean for Phillips moving forward? Well, he'll be given a chance to play third base should he choose to do so, but the bigger impression is this - his time with the Braves is limited. Atlanta could go with Phillips at second and Albies at shortstop while shifting Camargo to third (more on that in a sec), but that doesn't seem something they are currently interested in. Right now, it's Albies at second and that's going to be a regular thing.

Which is good. Like Swanson before him, if Albies is in the majors, he should be in the lineup. For now, it looks like he'll share the middle of the diamond with Camargo. In an almost funny way, the Braves have never kept Albies and Swanson together for very long. Despite being the expected double play combo for the next decade, the duo hasn't spent a lot of time together outside of a month-and-a-half last season in Mississippi before Swanson was called up to the majors.

As I said, for the moment, Camargo is at shortstop, but it doesn't seem likely that he'll be joined by Freddie Freeman on the left side of the infield. Instead, Freeman will be shifted to first base - which is weird simply because Freeman actually hasn't been that bad at third base. Instead of Freeman at third, it looks like Sean Rodriguez and Danny Santana will share the position for the time being. When rosters expand, we'll probably see more lineups with Rio Ruiz returning and Swanson likely pushing Camargo to third base more.

Where does that leave Matt Adams? In left field - at least until Matt Kemp returns. He got the start last night but left the game after just five innings due to dizziness. What that means to the future of Adams playing left field is unknown. What is very confusing about this move is that Freeman is a better third baseman than Adams is a left fielder, yet the Braves went in this direction. Some have suggested that Adams playing left field is better for his trade value. I don't know how to respond to that without laughing.

Whatever the motivation for benching Phillips and sending Adams to left might be - and I'm betting it's simply that they didn't find any real takers at the deadline - the Braves seem content with their decisions from last night provided Adams doesn't suffer any more dizziness issues. So, that leaves us with Sims and Albies taking up new important roles with the team, potentially the Matt Adams Plays Left Field Experience and a mix of Rodriguez and Santana at third base. Defensively, this is not ideal and this is was not a very good defense to begin with.

For Braves fans, as confusing as the last 24 hours have been, one thing is for certain - having Albies and Sims begin another youth movement makes the Braves more fun and exciting to watch. Considering they are 3-12 since getting to .500, that's at least something.

Transaction Tuesday: Gohara, Touki, Alex Jackson, Slugbauer

It was an extra-busy week in big-time promotions for the Atlanta Braves organization this week. While the trading deadline was a bit of a letdown in terms of transactions, there's plenty here to cover and much of it is positive.

*The moves covered in this edition of Transaction Tuesday cover July 25 to July 31. A number in parenthesis represents the player's ranking in the midseason WOW Top 50.

Atlanta
Recalled: Lane Adams...Another go around in the bigs for the 27-year-old, who began this season with just three plate appearances in the majors back in 2014. Adams got into Monday's game and picked up a RBI single. It was his seventh pinch-hit of the season in 28 PA, which is two more than Danny Santana for the team-lead and gives Adams nearly a quarter of Atlanta's pinch-hits on the year. Adams isn't a great player by any means but seems suited well for the fourth outfielder role.

Recalled: Jason Hursh (#42)...This callup is likely going to resemble his previous several callups in that it will probably be short. Hursh has done decently with his 8.2 in the majors, but can't seem to get a long enough look to stick. With Lucas Sims joining the team today, Hursh likely will draw the short straw.

Recalled: Micah Johnson...Micah was killing it in Triple-A. Over eleven games, he hit a robust .378/.452/.568 with three doubles, two triples, and five walks. Naturally, the Braves brought him up to let him sit on the bench. He's now 0-for-3 - all pinch-hit appearances - with two strikeouts. While I understand that Johnson's not the biggest prospect by any means, it seems shortsighted to not roll the dice and see if he keeps hitting - especially when right-handers are on the mound.

Jeff Morris - Follow on Twitter

Disabled: Matt Kemp...On June 2, Matt Kemp went 3-for-5 to improve his batting line to .352/.387/.614. Since then, he's hit .227/.285/.337 while playing woeful defense. There are times that we flash back to the Kemp of old - the former MVP candidate and one of the game's best. Most of the time, though, the Braves have this version of Kemp. A guy who is trying to gut it out through a variety of leg ailments. Right now, it's his hamstring that's forced him to the DL. On the plus side, his balky knees will be given a rest for a change.

Gwinnett
Promoted from Mississippi: Luiz Gohara (#8)...The southpaw from Brazil is making Jerry Dipoto look really dumb for giving up on him after a 1.81 ERA in 2016. Gohara opened the season with seven wonderful starts in Florida before a promotion up the ladder to Mississippi, where he was excellent with a 2.60 ERA and 60 strikeouts in 52 innings. His first start in Triple-A went poorly, but the fact that the Braves have taken a pitcher who Dipoto couldn't get rid of quick enough and now have him on the road to the major leagues is remarkable. Gohara struggled last week against Syracuse, but he'll have a month-plus to turn the corner once again and put his name on the shortlist for a spot on next year's roster.

Promoted from Mississippi: Phil Pfeifer...On one hand, Pfeifer was rolling with Mississippi. 68 strikeouts in 44.1 innings? Yes, please. The problem comes down to the walks - 33 of them. His ability to generate strikeouts helped to mask that, but that's still too many walks. It's worth mentioning that left-handed batters in the Southern League won't miss Pfeifer. They hit just .196 with two doubles against him. Pfeifer was a third rounder in 2015 who came over in last June's Bud Norris/Dian Toscano exchange. The talent is there for the former Vanderbilt Commodore. If the Braves can squeeze out just a bit more control out of him, Pfeifer could be part of a reworked bullpen for the Braves over the next year.

Promoted from Mississippi: Kade Scivicque (#43)...Scivicque hasn't exactly followed up a productive Arizona Fall League run with some impressive offensive numbers this season. At the time of his promotion, he was hitting .269/.319/.363 - basically, what he did in the 170 or so games he played in the minors before this season. Long-term, Scivicque maxes out as a backup whose career will be made or broken by his receiving skills behind the plate. They're not great, by the way, but reports suggest he has improved. More improvement might help him get to the majors.

Rehab: Jason Motte...I feel like Motte is pushing 40, but he only turned 35 a month ago. Motte started his rehab assignment this week with a good inning with Rome before joining with Gwinnett to complete his rehab. While Motte hasn't been bad this year (3.76 ERA), his peripherals stink (5.43 FIP/4.99 xFIP) and at this point, the Braves might be better off moving on from Motte rather than demote a younger arm to bring him back.

Recalled and Optioned from Atlanta: Aaron Blair...The problem with Aaron Blair is the results haven't really matched the expectations for three years now. The belief was that Blair had good stuff, a few plus-plus pitches, and would be a middle-of-the-rotation workhorse. He might be a workhorse, but one you don't want to ride for very long. It's bad enough that he stunk in a 15-start run with the Braves last year. This year, with Gwinnett, he's simply been pretty forgetful with a 4.86 ERA/4.73 FIP/5.02 xFIP. His one start in the majors last week was a train wreck. Blair seems maxed out as a Quad-A starter/major league spot starter. He's just 25, but it's hard to foresee much potential here.

Jeff Morris - Follow on Twitter

Optioned from Atlanta: Dansby Swanson...We can talk until we're blue in the face about the way the Braves handled this and whether or not Swanson should be in the minors, but once Brian Snitker started to use Johan Camargo as his regular shortstop, it was only appropriate to move Swanson to Gwinnett to get him plenty of playing time. That part, I'm happy about. Over the last few weeks, it appeared the struggles were finally getting to him. I'm not a body language expert, but Swanson looked miserable and seemed on a downward trend. While adversity can be good for young players, an OPS of .599 is a bit much to put on a guy in hopes that it builds character. Swanson heads to Triple-A, where he'll form a star-studded middle of the defense with Ozzie Albies and Ronald Acuna. He'll be back.

Optioned from Atlanta: Matt Wisler...Unfortunately, the Braves are not yet willing to try out the single-inning Wisler version I, and many others, have suggested. Soon after his demotion, he took the ball and had a Wisleresque start against Syracuse. He gave up four runs, walked a batter, and was dinged for eleven hits, but stuck around long enough to get the win.

Mississippi
Promoted from Florida: Alex Jackson (#11)...Much like Austin Riley's promotion a few weeks ago, I didn't quite understand his one. Jackson got off to a great start, but since returning from a month on the DL on June 19, Jackson slashed .231/.296/.394 for Florida with 29 strikeouts in 115 PA. But with Brett Cumberland now in Florida and Scivicque heading up to Gwinnett, there was more time available at catcher in Mississippi. Jackson's 0-for-8 so far since the promotion with four strikeouts, but also four walks. On the year, he's slashing .264/.333/.487 with some iffy numbers behind the plate.

Promoted from Rome to Florida and promoted again: Andres Santiago...Every week, it seems Santiago is on the move. He's appeared for all four Braves' minor league teams above rookie ball and basically goes where there might be a need. Right now, that's the Mississippi rotation.

Jeff Morris - Follow on Twitter

Promoted from Florida: Touki Toussaint (#14)...Recently, I wrote about how Toussaint was turning the corner. The next start after the article, Toussaint struck out eight over five innings to lower his ERA in the Florida State League to 5.04. It would have gone even lower, but the Braves saw his incredible success of late and rewarded the young right-hander with his first promotion above A-ball. A few days later, he threw a double-header-shortened complete game against Mobile in his debut. It was in a losing effort as two unearned runs followed an Austin Riley error, but it was still a big game for Touki, who's in the midst of a resurgence up the prospect rankings. For the first time since the Braves acquired him, he fell outside my Top 10 in the midseason ranks. Something tells me that will change by the end-of-the-season.

Promoted to Gwinnett, Demoted to Mississippi: Junior Rincon...In just one month, Rincon has spent time with three Braves' teams, though he has yet to play for Gwinnett. Amazingly, despite plenty of movement, he's only pitched four times. He got into his first game in a week yesterday for Mississippi and threw three scoreless innings out of the Mississippi bullpen with four K's in the second game of a double header. Like Santiago, he's just an arm.

Demoted from Gwinnett: Joseph Odom...Briefly, Odom looked like he would get a shot to play regularly in Gwinnett, but he was exchanged for Scivicque after Odom started three games for the G-Braves. He heads back to Mississippi, where his bat has been on fire when he's been healthy enough to play. Through eight games and 22 AB, Odom is hitting a cool .500 with two doubles. Odom's not one of the best catching prospects in the organization, but he's also not a guy to ignore after slashing .278/.327/.431 between Carolina and Mississippi last year.

Florida
Promoted from Danville: Raymar Navarro...At 26 years-old, Navarro was way too old to be pitching for Danville. The Cuban-born right-hander wasn't great with the D-Braves, though. Nor was he that noteworthy in a six-game run with Rome to open the season. Nor is a promotion to High-A all that impressive considering the 67 innings he threw for Carolina last year. But the Braves need to see something out of Navarro and maybe a new challenge will help. His first two games since joining the Fire Frogs haven't been terrible, nor good.

Promoted from Florida to Gwinnett and Demoted: Kevin Matthews...The former Rangers first-rounder was surprisingly promoted to Gwinnett last week, but it was merely for a spot start. That's a bit surprising on its own because of the five games he had appeared in with Rome, all had been out of the pen. Still, Matthews tossed four competent innings in a losing effort for Gwinnett before being demoted to Florida, which is also a promotion over returning to Rome. For a guy who never appeared in High-A ball or better with Texas, it's notable that he's done both for Atlanta in such a short time. His first game in Florida was miserable, though. He was charged with a half-dozen runs in one inning. He'll try to get back on the positive side of things this week.

Activated: Chase Johnson-Mullins...Another reliever in the long-line of small college draftees the Braves have hoarded over the years, CJM is essentially repeating High-A and showing a bit of progression in the process (K% up 3%, BB% down 4%). CJM's a guy who is very difficult to elevate the ball against, but that can be a problem in the minors with less-than-pristine infield surfaces and defensive alignments that sometimes are detrimental to pitchers. Nevertheless, the left-hander has decent control with some swing-and-miss stuff and could be another guy to keep in mind as the Braves try to develop a power bullpen.

Demoted from Mississippi: Stephen Gaylor...I'll be honest. Getting kind of tired of writing about Gaylor. The dude is on the move every week and is only in Florida because that's where there is a roster spot. Seriously, if there were no spots at any other team, I fully expect him to head to the Dominican Republic. He's an organizational guy who plays pretty decent outfield defense and gets on base at an okay clip. Moving on.

Jeff Morris - Follow on Twitter

Demoted from Mississippi: Sal Giardina...Maybe it's his name or his 80-grade mustache, but I keep thinking Giardina is 43 years-old, which would age him up about 20 years. Like Gaylor, Giardina goes where there is an available spot on the roster. With Jackson heading up to Mississippi with Odom, there was no available time in Double-A so he heads to Florida. At this point, the Fire Frogs are becoming the home of misfit toys.

Rome:
Promoted from Danville: Leudys Baez...The potential has always been there for Baez, who flashes an all-around game that should make him a fixture in prospect rankings. The ball has been known to jump off his bat and while not particularly fast, he's quick and has good instincts. He's also a switch-hitter, which isn't surprising since the Braves are stockpiling switch-hitters. The problem for Baez has been taking this great collection of gifted skills and turning them into results. Over the last two years, he has been hapless in Rome - so much so that he failed to make the Rome roster coming out of spring training and returned to Danville. He obliterated the APPY over 25 games to earn another shot at Low-A and went 3 for-4 with two doubles and a triple in his return to the Rome roster. At 21, Baez's time to get going in his career is right now. More games like Monday will help him get there.

Promoted from Danville: Drew Lugbauer (#44)...This wasn't too much of a surprise. Lugbauer - or Slugbauer - had proven that his power was too much for the Appalachian League, homering ten times in 29 games. His average fell to .243 after a 0-for-9 run against Johnson City right before the promotion, but he took plenty of walks and continued to show that his bat won't be the problem when it comes to Lugbauer. It's his position. At Danville, he started nine games at catcher, nine games at third, and five games at first. He's not particularly gifted at any of these positions but seems capable enough to at least play a bit at each. Whether or not he'll have a long-term position - especially behind the plate - is questionable. But the Braves have some time to figure that out. He opened his Low-A career at first base Monday night and, like Baez, was instrumental in Rome's 5-3 win over Augusta with a pair of doubles. The duo joins Isranel Wilson, who also opened the year in Danville before a promotion up the ladder.

Danville

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Promoted from GCL: Jean Carlos Encarnacion...Just 19 years-old, Encarnacion was surging with the GCL Braves to open the year. Signed at the tail-end of the 2015-16 class, Encarnacion didn't open many eyes during a 37-game run in the Dominican Summer League last year, but through 26 games to begin this year, Encarnacion was hitting .350/.374/.563 in Florida. Unsurprisingly, with some time opening up in Danville with Lugbauer joining Rome, Encarnacion was brought north for a new challenge. Encarnacion split time between shortstop and third base last year but has played the corner infield spots this season. He's got the frame and potential power to match such a positional assignment. For me, Encarnacion was one of the guys who just missed my Midseason Top 50. My expectation is that he'll join the list the next time I do it.

Assigned: Huascar Ynoa...I wrote a pretty big scouting report on Ynoa prior to him making his Danville debut and felt he had a good deal of upside. His debut did little to change that thought. He regularly hit 97 mph with a good slurve, along with a great feel for his changeup, in a four-inning start. He gave up three hits and a run, walked two, and struck out six. While people immediately talked down the pickup because of a 5.26 ERA (because that's all that matters), I think the upside Ynoa has and with how well the Braves develop arms, Ynoa could be a heck of a find.

Demoted from Rome: Austin Bush...A fairly intimidating figure in the box, Bush stands 6'6" and 220 pounds. Suffice it to say, he's meant to play first base. The problem is as worrisome as his physical stature might be to opposing pitchers, they didn't have much trouble getting him out in the SALLY. He hit just .216/.292/.333 over 31 games with a pair of homers. Those numbers are even worse when you take away his first five games (an 8-for-19 start with two doubles and a homer). Bush was a 15th rounder of UC-Santa Barbara who bashed 20 homers as a junior. He also struck out a ton - which he did with Rome as well. If you're getting the power numbers, that's not all that concerning. When you're not...it gets ugly. He did skip by rookie level so maybe a more conservative assignment will get him going.

Demoted from Rome: Alan Crowley...A 26th rounder last year, Crowley opened the season with Danville but was quickly needed in Rome. In backup action, he didn't impress much with a 5-for-27 line. He'll be a backup in Danville as well and is position-limited right now. He did hit .327 last year, though oddly only one of his 17 hits went for extra bases and that one EBH was a homer. He didn't hit for any power in junior college either so I imagine it was his glove that interested the Braves. Honestly, there's just not much to write about a guy who seems destined to be a backup catcher in the minors.

GCL
Rehab from Gwinnett: Mauricio Cabrera...It's been a miserable season for Cabrera, but maybe a quick breather on the DL will get him going. Cabrera was originally placed on the DL at the end of spring training after he was diagnosed with a strained right elbow. Expected to miss just a few weeks, he started a rehab assignment with Florida in late April and joined Gwinnett a week later. His control never came to Georgia, though. He'd later be optioned to Gwinnett rather than simply play there on a rehab assignment and overall, Cabrera walked 25 batters and hit four others in 26.1 ING before being placed on the DL a week ago. A potential closer option before the season, Cabrera's control (which looked so much better once he got to the majors) had worsened to the point where he's a danger to the hitters stepping in. Cabrera's right arm has always been worth millions in potential salary, but his inability to spot pitches has kept him a longshot to be an impact major leaguer. We saw him potentially change that last year over 38.1 ING, but until he's able to do it again, don't count on him being an x-factor for the Braves' pen.

Rehab from Mississippi: Matt Withrow (#45)...Withrow got off to a wonderful start with a 2.08 ERA in April. As good as he was in April, he was just as bad in May before landing on the DL. He'll try to get back on track after a run in the GCL on a rehab assignment. His appearance was a two-inning stint with two strikeouts and no baserunners allowed - good start. Withrow finished fifth last year for most strikeouts in the system and just ahead Toussaint while pitching for Carolina. He walked a few too many hitters but flashed a plus-fastball with good sink and a slider that might push him into a bullpen role as he gets closer to the majors.

Demoted from Mississippi: Guillermo Zuniga...We come to an end of our Zuniga saga. Back on July 4, Zuniga was surprisingly promoted to Mississippi after just one start in the GCL. Two days later, he was placed on the DL. Outfield Fly Rule's Chris Jervis rightly figured out why this strange move happened. The Braves ran out of roster space in the GCL to house players on the DL. They had more room with Mississippi so while Zuniga nursed his injury, he was a "member" of the Mississippi roster. Now healthy enough to pitch, the 18-year-old righty returned to the GCL and started last weekend. All this roster manipulation aside, Zuniga is an interesting pitcher who could jump onto some prospect lists over the next couple of years.

DSL
Nothing to report.