Atlanta Braves activate Grant Dayton, place A.J. Minter on 60-day IL

As the postseason nears, the Atlanta Braves are looking for the best combination to make a run that extends past the NLDS. Part of that comes from auditioning players in September- the other part is a bit easier when players are injured.

A.J. Minter stole the heart of Atlanta Braves fans in 2017 and into 2018 with his Craig Kimbrel-esque motion and his nasty cutter and fastball combo that could touch triple digits.

Minter even made the 2018 postseason roster, pitching two scoreless frames in the NLDS against the Dodgers. Unfortunately, after that, things seemed to fall apart for the righty.

After an effective season plus for Minter where he posted a 3.18 ERA over 81 games while striking out 95 batters over 76.1 innings, 2019 was well, a disaster.

A 2.01 WHIP tells the story, as Minter walked 23 batters over 29 innings. Batters often punished his mistakes – resulting in a 7.07 ERA.  It was without a doubt a performance that Minter needs to put behind him in a season where the bullpen has been up and down.

The lefty’s season came to an end today when he was placed on the 60-day injured list with shoulder inflammation. Minter nay-sayers will say that it’s a phantom move, and will say he’s not actually injured, but that may have been the reason for Minter’s struggles.

After a tough go in AAA before his September promotion, maybe Minter needs to rest both his arm, and his mind heading into 2020 spring training, where he’ll come in as a player that will need to prove that he belongs on the major league roster.

Working his way back

Grant Dayton is a feel-good story and an arm that could potentially help the Atlanta Braves in the bullpen in the postseason.

After missing all of 2018 recovering from Tommy John surgery, Dayton found his way back to the major leagues with the Atlanta Braves in late April and May and then in June into July. A broken toe while playing catch with the oft-wild Chad Sobotka sidelined him, and now, he’s back.

Dayton enjoyed a productive AAA season with Gwinnett, pitching to a .208 batting average against and a 0.90 whip over 26.1 innings. In the major leagues, Dayton made 10 appearances, allowing two earned runs over 8.2 innings, good for a 2.06 ERA. Both runs were given up via solo home runs.

Over his professional career, Dayton has walked just 151 batters over 486.1 innings… he hasn’t been one hurt himself via the base on balls.

Time will tell if Dayton has a legitimate shot to make the Atlanta Braves postseason roster, but it certainly looks like he has some work to do to unseat the incumbents.

Sean Newcomb and Jerry Blevins represent other left-handed relief options on the current roster. Blevins has done his job, provided a veteran presence and being generally effective, while Newcomb presents an arm that could go long if needed.

Though Newk has struggled with his control lately, with 11 walks over his last 12.1 innings, he has largely been excellent out of the pen.

September has served the Atlanta Braves well, as a month where they’ve played excellent baseball, and they’ve still have been afforded the opportunity to see what their immense organization depth can do – finding out exactly what pieces will fit.