The Braves announced they’ve released catcher Maverick Handley, who’d been on optional assignment with Triple-A Gwinnett. That opens a 40-man roster spot for Hurston Waldrep, who was reinstated from the 60-day injured list and optioned to Triple-A. Atlanta also outrighted Carlos Carrasco yet again after designating him for assignment on Wednesday.
Waldrep has been out all season after undergoing surgery to remove loose bodies from his elbow at the beginning of Spring Training. The 2023 first-round pick had entered camp as a lock for the rotation after turning in a 2.88 earned run average through 56 1/3 innings. Waldrep’s injury was one of a number of Spring Training hits for the Atlanta pitching staff. Spencer Schwellenbach has yet to return from his own elbow procedure. Spencer Strider began the year on the injured list, while Joey Wentz tore his ACL.
The Braves have more than weathered those injuries. Chris Sale, as expected, has been fantastic. Bryce Elder has had an excellent season to stabilize the middle of the rotation. Strider returned in early May. Grant Holmes and Martín Pérez have gotten decent results despite middling strikeout and walk marks.
Atlanta has a reasonably stable five-man group for the time being. They’ve already bumped Reynaldo López to the bullpen. Rookie righties JR Ritchie and Didier Fuentes are also in relief for the time being, the former after being recalled on Wednesday.
Waldrep figures to crack that group within the next few weeks. He just began a rehab assignment at the Florida complex before moving to Double-A Columbus yesterday. He went 3 2/3 innings and tossed 53 pitches. Waldrep was only two weeks into what could have been a 30-day rehab assignment. It’s not clear why the Braves elected instead to activate him to the 40-man roster just to have him continuing building up with Gwinnett.
The righty was being paid an MLB salary and accruing service time while on the 60-day injured list, even on the rehab stint. That’ll no longer be the case while he’s in Gwinnett. The salary savings for the team are marginal, however, and there’s no particular reason for service time to be a factor. Waldrep had 103 days of MLB service entering the season. He has already topped the 69 days he needed to surpass the one-year threshold.
Whatever the rationale, Waldrep will probably be back up before long. He clearly has a higher upside than Holmes or Pérez if he’s at full strength. Waldrep will burn his third minor league option year if he spends at least 20 days in Gwinnett, but the Braves would likely be granted a fourth option next offseason because of his limited professional experience.
The procedural move pushed Handley off the roster. Atlanta claimed him off waivers a few weeks back after losing Sean Murphy and Drake Baldwin to injury. They immediately optioned him to Triple-A as a third catcher behind Sandy León and Chadwick Tromp. The Braves subsequently swapped in Austin Wynns for Tromp.
They’re still light on catching depth for the next few days, but Baldwin is set to begin a rehab assignment tomorrow. Handley wasn’t providing any short-term insurance regardless, as he landed on the Triple-A injured list last week. If he clears release waivers, he’ll be a free agent. The 28-year-old has otherwise spent his entire career in the Baltimore organization, appearing in 17 MLB games over the past two seasons.
