This surely isn’t the way Cervelli would’ve wanted his career to end, but he noted in his announcement that “for the first time in a long time, I know my health and wellness needs to be the leadoff.” Despite his various injuries, Cervelli ultimately compiled a 13-year MLB career. Braves arenât giving up on Wright or Touki, Smith is signed for 2 more years, Hamels is a FA. We’re three days out from Game 1, which will take place on Monday evening. Read more at MLB Trade Rumors. That’s obviously excellent news for the Braves, with whom Acuna slashed .250/.406/.581 and totaled 14 home runs and eight stolen bases in 202 plate appearances. By Steve Adams | September 28, 2020 at 2:22pm CDT. Must read content, player grades, stuff you can't get anywhere else. Wright Angels should get him back. Alex Pietrangelo and the Golden Knights appear close to getting a deal done as he made a UFA visit to the city. Anyways. There was no harm in trying one more run as a SP with him given the franchise’s desperation, but it’s got to be done now. They now have a good pitching coach who can determine the best role for him. He started a couple of games at the beginning, but I donât think anyone every thought he would be a starter. Instead we get Newk who canât throw strikes consistently and gives up many runs. Johan Camargo and William Contreras are the casualties, shortening the bench for Atlanta to just a backup catcher, Culberson and Sandoval as the reserve infielders, and Pache as their lone backup outfielder. We'll never pass along your email address to spammers, scammers, or the like. -Has pitched “Too Bad” to remain a starter. Atlanta and Los Angeles both feature powerhouse offenses, as the two were separated by just one run during regular season play atop the National League leaderboard; the Dodgers scored an NL-best 349 runs to the Braves’ 348. Even coming back it just felt off for some reason. These Cookies are necessary for the performance of the Services and may not be removed. But Swanson doesnât make errors and turns the double plays and is more than sufficient for us at SS defensively. He added one successful postseason start to that total already, and by starting game one of the NLDS, he could add another pair should the series go the distance. Elsewhere, Atlanta will entrust its Game 2 outing to former No. Why are they giving up on Newk? The Pirates are not going to pick up Archer’s pricey option so he will be a FA …. Pitching is a crapshoot. BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS - AUGUST 28: Martin Perez #42 of the Boston Red Sox pitches against the Washington Nationals during the third inning at Fenway Park on August 28, 2020 in Boston, Massachusetts. As a result, the World Series-contending Braves will soon have to decide how far they’ll go to keep him in the fold.