Braves make several roster moves ahead of series finale with Mets

The Braves made several roster moves ahead of their series finale with the Mets. Most notably, Ian Anderson has been option with Gwinett.

The #Braves today recalled RHP Huascar Ynoa to Atlanta, selected C Chadwick Tromp to the major league roster, and optioned RHP Ian Anderson and OF Guillermo Heredia to Triple-A Gwinnett.

— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) August 7, 2022

Anderson’s demotion was inevitable after yet another forgettable performance against the Mets, which I talked about in an earlier piece.

Following arguably the best outing of the season last time out against the Diamondbacks, Anderson returned to his abysmal form against the Mets. He had no control of the zone, walking four batters in 4.2 innings, most of which came when he had a lead of seven runs or more. Even when Anderson did force it into the zone, New York’s lineup was barreling everything. He wasn’t even able to get through five innings to qualify for the win, and by the time he exited, the Mets were right back in the ball game.

It’s no longer a matter of if Anderson will be optioned to Gwinnett, it’s when. Because of the way the schedule shakes out with a doubleheader tomorrow and another one next week against the Marlins, he may get one last opportunity to prove he belongs on the 26-man roster. But it will probably take a herculean effort to convince the Braves to keep him up.

Ynoa gets his second chance with the Major League club after spending most of the season with the AAA affiliate Stripers. A year ago, it looked like he was destined to be a key piece in Atlanta’s rotation for years to come. After seven starts, the hard-throwing righty had a 4-1 record with a 2.29 ERA entering a May 16th start against the Brewers, which was the beginning of a tailspin. He ended up breaking his hand after a poor start against Milwaukee, and when he returned on August 17th, Ynoa was a shell of himself. He went on to make nine more regular season starts, posting a 5.05 ERA.

It’s been more of the same in Gwinnett this year, though. Ynoa has started 14 games with an unsightly 5.38 ERA. Hopefully, Anderson can go down and work on a third offering or even find some semblance of the stuff that made him unhittable in the postseason because I’m not sure Ynoa is the answer.