Atlanta Braves designate LHP Ricardo Sanchez, Adam McCreery for assignment

The 21-year-old LHP had just been added to the Atlanta Braves 40-man roster in 2017 as protection from the Rule-5 draft

The Atlanta Braves made the move to DFA’d Ricardo Sanchez as a corresponding move after they made the official announcement that they are bringing back Brian McCann for 2019.

Sanchez was one of the first prospect trades of the Braves rebuilding phase, back in 2015, being acquired from the Los Angeles Angels for third baseman Kyle Kubitza and RHP Nate Hyatt.

An odd fun(?) fact is both guys that the Braves shipped over have now retired from professional baseball:  Kubitza back in July and Hyatt in 2016. So unless some team claims Sanchez, the Braves technically won the trade?

Sanchez was a highly regarded prospect with major promise/upside when the Braves acquired him and at the time was one of the Angel’s top 10 prospects.

Sanchez came after the Braves had already acquired other pitching prospects including Max Fried but he helped boost the now famous Braves pitching prospect depth.

With the Braves organization however, he has yet to really live up to his expectations. In 4 seasons with the organization’s minor leagues and the 2018-2019 Venezuelan Winter League, he’s pitched to a 4.59 ERA while allowing 185 earned runs.

What we lose

Per MLB.com’s rankings, Sanchez is currently the Braves’ 26th top prospect.

In his prospect scouting report, Sanchez:

"“…still has excellent pure stuff with the chance to have three at least average pitches in a starting pitching profile. While he has a very clean arm action, he has struggled to repeat his mechanics and has thus had command and control problem.”"

Our own Ben Chase also wrote the same thing in his scouting report and ranking of the Venezuelan lefty:

"“…with the raw talent that Sanchez has just seems like he should have more at this point. Sanchez still has excellent raw stuff, but he seems to really lose himself in an inning…often he ends up 2-3 innings into an incredible start when suddenly he blows up and the manager isn’t sure if/when he’ll collect himself again.”"

He’s improving a bit though.  Like Braxton Davidson, Sanchez was another Braves prospect that hasn’t really panned out but was finding life in winter league ball.

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In 7 games with Magallanes of the Venezuelan Winter League, Sanchez had a 3.45 ERA with 22 strikeouts. This included a game where he went 6 innings and allowed only a run and a walk while striking 5.

He also spent this season with 3 different levels/teams in the Braves’ system: Danville Braves (Appalachian League-Rookie Ball), Gulf Coast Braves (Gulf Coast League-Rookie), and the Mississippi Braves (AA). Over that span, he had a 3.79 ERA and 1.45 WHIP in 73.2 innings.

With the fact that he’s still young and could still continue to improve, there’s a fair chance he’ll probably be claimed by another team. However, it was really the right move for the Braves as he’s been on the roster for that amount of time but has yet to make his pro-debut nor has performed well enough to do so.

More Coming Soon

The Braves also have an agreement with third baseman Josh Donaldson on a deal that’s pending a physical, so when it’s officially announced, expect another name to be booted off the 40-man roster.

UPDATE: Well, it seems that this other shoe has dropped:  though not yet officially announced, the word has leaked.

Adam McCreery, a nearly-26-year-old reliever, had a cup of coffee with the big club this season, but spent most of 2018 in AA.  He has strikeout stuff, but also walked a few too many, and that could be related to today’s decision.

This move also suggests strongly that Donaldson has passed his physical and likely will be introduced to the media at some point on Tuesday…. and here’s the official word:

What a Monday for the club!