The Braves smacked the Mets Saturday night for their second consecutive win behind home runs from Austin Riley, Eli White, Mike Yastrzemski, Michael Harris II, and Mauricio Dubon — a fitting way to cap off America’s 250th birthday.

Before the game, however, they announced several critical roster moves. JR Ritchie was scratched from his start in Gwinnett and rejoined the major-league club. He’ll pitch out of the bullpen for the time being and even made an appearance yesterday, tossing three scoreless innings to end the game which actually resulted in his first career save.

The Braves also placed Ha-Seong Kim on the 10-day IL with right middle finger inflammation. In a corresponding move, Kyle Farmer was reinstated from the Injured List.

The #Braves today recalled RHP JR Ritchie to Atlanta and placed INF Ha-Seong Kim on the 10-day injured list, backdated to July 1, with right middle finger inflammation. Atlanta also returned INF Kyle Farmer from his rehabilitation assignment and reinstated him from the injured…

— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) July 4, 2026

This is what we like to call the ole’ phantom IL stint. Because Ha-Seong Kim is out of options, the Braves can’t just send him to Gwinnett to work on things and then bring him back to Atlanta whenever they feel he’s ready. For that to happen, there has to be an injury.

Now, I’m not saying there isn’t some discomfort with Kim’s middle finger. It would actually make a lot more sense if there was given his play. But with this move, he gets a couple of weeks to reset and then can go on a rehab assignment to try and work things out at the Triple-A level.

For all the issues the Braves have, shortstop is the one that has been around the longest. They haven’t been able to find consistent production at the position in a half-decade since Dansby Swanson was around. The $20 million the Braves handed Ha-Seong Kim in the offseason was a strong vote of confidence that he would break that spell, but his performance has been the worst of the bunch.

In 27 games, Kim has just five hits — good for a .068 batting average and .239 OPS. He’s on a 162-game pace for a -6.0 WAR season, a number that shouldn’t even be possible.

Hopefully, this move will do him some good. Because if it doesn’t, there’s no guarantee he ever rejoins the major-league club. He either shows some improvement in Gwinnett or the Braves will designate him for assignment.

Until then, Jim Jarvis and Jorge Mateo will hold down the fort, with Mauricio Dubon likely to take over when Ronald Acuña Jr. returns after the All-Star break.

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Photo: Chris Arjoon/Icon Sportswire