Atlanta Braves Saturday update: Max Fried starts bye-bye Bourjos
By Fred Owens
The Atlanta Braves kicked off a difficult road trip by beating a defensively inept Cardinal team. This morning’s roster moves brought a starter on board.
Early this morning the Atlanta Braves official Twitter account verified what we suspected last night, Max Fried starts game two in St Louis tonight. The same Tweet told us that the Braves created roster space by designating Peter Bourjos for assignment.
The Braves called Fried up earlier in the year as a long man in the bullpen. The last time they ferried him back to Gwinnett, we officially learned that leadership viewed Fried as a rotation piece. This start solidifies that view.
Brandon McCarthy’s trip to the 10-day DL may last the minimum 10 days. If Max pitches well he could hold on to this rotation spot and force McCarthy to the bullpen.
Lack of a backup center fielder theoretically created a role for Bourjos on the 25-man roster. The return of Ronald Acuna Jr. and presence of Danny Santana whose bat remains active at least temporarily made Bourjos redundant.
If no one makes a claim, Bourjos could accept assignment and return to Gwinnett.
Atlanta Braves prospects relocate on BA’s midseason list.
On Friday Baseball America ($) released its midseason top 100 update. With MLB Pipeline and Fangraphs lists already published we get an interesting view of the way outsiders view the Braves system.
The Braves began the year with eight players in the BA 100; now there are six
The BA list retains Ronald Acuna Jr. in the number two slot just behind Vladdy JR. Mike Soroka creeps up to #19 from 20 while Austin Riley slips eight places to 30. The Riley move doesn’t reflect a change in his projection for him as much as increased expectations for others.
Oaklands Jesus Luzardo jumped from 29 to 21, the Padres Adrian Morejon just from 54 to 24, Cleveland’s Francisco Mejia from 32 to 25 and LA’s Alex Verdugo from 36 to 27 and other had significant shuffling to pushed Austin down the list.
Ian Anderson moved up from 40 to 39 but jumps by Keston Hiura (Brewers) 42 to 36, Yordan Alvarez (Astros) 46 to 37 and Alex Kirilloff Olympic qualifying broad jump from 87 to 38 combined with Kyle Wright’s rough start pushed him to 40.
The second largest fall belongs to Luiz Gohara who dropped from 18 to 72. Many of those who made big jumps acquired MLB service time and performed well. Gohara’s injury issues and his performance after returning sent him back into the last 30 players listed. He’s also the last Atlanta Braves prospect in the BA list..
The worst fall for Braves prospects came from Kolby Allard – #65 to start the season – and Max Fried – # 72 – who dropped off the list. Once again the cause seems to progress from others