Braves Acquire Reliever Jorge Reyes From Padres

The Braves continued to add minor league depth today with the addition of Jorge Reyes.

The 26 year old right hander drafted by the Padres in the 17th round of the 2009 amateur draft and was ranked the number 22 prospect in the Padres organization that year. He made his was to AAA with Tucson in 2012 where he started 24 games and put up a 5.09 ERA – 1.572 WHIP – in 152 innings. In 2013 he was converted to a reliever and appeared in 42 games – 75 innings – finishing with a 5.28 ERA and a 1.613 WHIP again with Tucson. This season with the Chihuahuas he’s appeared in 24 games – 30 1/3 innings – with a more respectable 3.86 ERA and 1.352 WHIP.

You may have heard of him because he was the centerpiece of a month long prank played on former Brave Jeff Francoeur. when teammates – and eventually Reyes wife – convinced Frenchy that Reyes was deaf. According to the new York Daily News:

"The whole gag started off as an innocent joke at “Frenchy’s” expense after he noticed Reyes remain completely still when everybody called “heads up” during practice. From then it snowballed, with Reyes playing the part of deaf baseball player, and teammates and coaches convincing Francoeur that the 26-year-old hurler has made it this far in his career without speaking a word."

Reyes is a power arm who’s averaged 6.9 K/9 in AAA play. He’s been assigned to Gwinnett.