The Atlanta Braves made a couple of moves Tuesday, activating starfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. from the disabled list and selling right-handedly Ian Anderson in the majors. In the corresponding moves, the Braves opted for pitcher Touki Toussaint and catcher Alex Jackson at the choice site.
Anderson, who is expected to make his Major League Baseball debut Tuesday night against the New York Yankees, entered the season ranked through CBS Sports as baseball’s 29th hope. He is the prospect of the moment promoted through the Braves last week, joining gardener Cristian Pache. (Pache made his debut this weekend).
Here’s what we wrote the off-season about Anderson:
Third overall pick in the 2016 draft, Ian Anderson is expected to make his major league debut in 2020. Anderson has the qualities of a mid-rotation opener or better. It has size, delivery, arsenal: the 3 fields have a higher than average potential. What he doesn’t have is the command. Anderson has walked to four of nine batters in his minor league career, adding 4.3 out of nine in 2019. In other words, its 11.3% ticket rate would have matched Dakota Hudson in the most sensible among the highest among qualified incumbents. Clearly, Anderson has more poor talent than Hudson, which perhaps makes his stage more comparable to that of Robbie Rays and Luis Castillos in the league. But he asks many pitchers to ask for a retirement rate among the 15 most sensitive to triumph over their madness. Anderson may not be 22 until May, so he has time to improve his dominance.
The Braves can only hope that Anderson’s acclimatization to the majors will go well. Its rotation was affected by injuries and poor performance. Four of the five members of their opening day of the five are injured or have decided elsewhere. That includes staff ace Mike Soroka, who broke his Achilles tendon in his third opening.
As for Acuña, she has been playing since August 10 for swelling in her wrist. During the season, he connected Array258 / Array372 / Array515 with 4 home races.
Despite Acuña’s rotation and recent absence, the Braves entered the Top Spot in the Eastern National League on Tuesday with a 16-12 record. The Miami Marlins, who are in second place, are halfway there.
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