Braves Rumors: When will Ozzie Albies be back in the lineup?
Atlanta Braves second baseman Ozzie Albies was placed on the 10-day injured list on Tuesday. In his place, Brian Snitker is expected to start Nicky Lopez and Vaughn Grissom, who was called up to the active roster.
For Grissom, this represents his best opportunity to earn a regular big-league gig since spring training. Grissom has faltered defensively at shortstop, but second base offers a more manageable approach, where the hot-hitting 22-year-old can focus more on what he does best — putting the ball in play. Lopez, meanwhile has eight RBIs in his first four games as a Brave, and can play multiple middle-infield positions.
"I know why I came here, and I know my role on this team," Lopez said on Monday. "Obviously we have a lot of studs across the diamond. I came here to fill a few spots here and there, stay ready if I'm called upon."
Albies is expected to be out for at least the next week or so.
"It's just something that is going to be more than a day-to-day thing," Snitker said. "We just want to take care of it and allow him to treat it."
As long as Lopez continues to hit well over the next week, he's likely to get the call at second base. Grissom, nonetheless, has been hitting .365 with a 1.043 OPS over his past 28 games for Gwinnett.
Braves Rumors: Should Atlanta be concerned about Jared Shuster?
What in the world happened to Jared Shuster?
The former first-round pick was a huge storyline in spring training, and even started the season in the Braves rotation. However, this season he has an ERA over five in both Atlanta and Gwinnett. A solid start in his last outing gives fans some hope, but are they right to be concerned overall about Shuster's development?
The House That Hank Built's Eric Cole sure thinks so, and even went as far as to list Shuster as a prospect playing his way out of the team's 2024 plans:
"In nine starts in the big leagues this year, Shuster got exposed as he posted a 5.00 ERA and walked nearly as many batters as he struck out. Struggling in the big leagues at first is hardly newsworthy as many fine players have taken a bit of time to adjust. However, Shuster's issues have spilled over to his work in the minor leagues as well as he has put up a 5.52 ERA with big-time regression in his strikeout and walk rates at Triple-A in 2023. Instead of being in the conversation for the rotation, there is more reason to wonder if the Braves need to move on from him."
Shuster likely will not make Atlanta's postseason roster this year, and will pitch out the rest of his campaign in Triple-A. The Braves hope he can build upon his August 10 start, when he threw seven innings of two-run ball.
Atlanta has too many good, young pitchers for Shuster to take a step back. A.J. Smith-Shawver, Michael Soroka, Max Fried and Kyle Wright aren't going anywhere. If he's not careful, he'll be forgotten.
Braves Rumors: Where in the world is Charlie Culberson?
Despite barely playing for Atlanta this season, Charlie Culberson re-signed with Gwinnett on a minor-league deal after he opted out of his contract with the Braves when he was DFA'd. Admittedly, I thought the saga was finally over when the Braves let Culberson hit free agency, but boy was I wrong.
Gwinnett placed Culberson on something called the development list, which allows minor-league players to head to an alternate site, but remain on the active roster. Mitchell Barbee described it quite well for The House That Hank Built:
"Turns out, the Development List is for healthy players in the minor leagues to go to an alternate site and train at a team-approved location instead of playing in games with the team. The player can also stay at the team's site and participate in pre-game activities, like batting practice and bullpens, but cannot play in actual games. Teams must get the player's approval before they put them on the Development List."
The simple answer is that we're not really sure what this means for Culberson. Either he's in Atlanta serving as a taxi squad member of sorts, or perhaps he's merely ramping back up after a several-week absence. Either way, it's been an exceedingly strange season for a player John Buhler coined the Udonis Haslem of baseball.
On July 16, Culberson recorded a hit in his first at-bat in a Braves uniform since 2019. He had been on the roster for six weeks.
"The Dansby Swanson lookalike had been up and down in the Braves' organization all season, but never appeared in a game for the best team in baseball up to this point. In a blowout loss and the Braves' first series loss in months, Culberson got his golden opportunity for Atlanta."
And Charlie came through, only to be dumped voluntarily several weeks later, re-sign with the Stripers and disappear from the eyes of fans. What a world.
