After pitching a great game in a 5-1 win over the Brewers on Tuesday, the Braves are sending Bryce Elder back to make room for their Trade Deadline acquisitions.
The #Braves today reported RHP Luke Jackson and OF Jorge Soler to Atlanta after optioning RHP Bryce Elder and INF Nacho Alvarez Jr. to Triple-A Gwinnett following yesterday’s game.
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) July 31, 2024
Elder’s return to Triple-A was largely a foregone conclusion. However, he’s now had great xFIPs in each of his last two starts, and might be working his way back towards a role that goes beyond “designated doubleheader guy.” Optioning Nacho Alvarez Jr. is perhaps a little more surprising, because it suggests the Braves are handing the keys to the keystone to Whit Merrifield at this point. Alvarez looked overmatched in his cup of coffee, with a hideous .128 wOBA and .199 xwOBA in 32 PAs, but Merrifield had just a .259 wOBA and .281 xwOBA in 174 PAs with the Phillies, while also playing some pretty poor defense. Still, the Braves will just have to make do, as they didn’t pick up any useful options ahead of yesterday’s Trade Deadline.
Jorge Soler will bring a .328 wOBA / .339 xwOBA into the Braves lineup. While people might be tempted to point to his summer of fun (.372 wOBA, .360 xwOBA), it’s really just been a July of good inputs, as Soler had a .365 wOBA on just a .326 xwOBA in June, but has gone ham in July with a .381 wOBA on a .398 xwOBA.
Luke Jackson returns for what will be his sixth year in a Braves uniform. He’s having a pretty crappy season with -0.2 fWAR and a 137 ERA- that’s even worse than his 116 FIP-, but 97 xFIP- is okay-ish and makes him a mop-up/low leverage option for the time being, though the Braves don’t exactly need more of those at the moment.
