The Braves are in Baltimore for a three-game set with the Orioles amid a lengthy slump, one that’s going on close to two months now.
The pitching staff and Marcell Ozuna have kept the club afloat, but as we inch further into summer, it gets more concerning. The trade deadline will be a popular topic, with many Braves fans suggesting reunions with the 2021 World Series heroes as possibilities.
That got me thinking about how former Braves are faring around baseball. For this piece, I’ll limit it to Braves players that left this past offseason. We’ll take a look at a broader scope from the last several years in a separate article.
Kevin Pillar
Pillar has spent time in Los Angeles and Chicago. With the White Sox, he had a pretty forgettable stint, posting a .650 OPS through 17 games. However, Pillar has been a completely different player with the Angels. Since the beginning of May, he’s sported a .381 batting average with six home runs and 22 RBIs in place of Mike Trout.
Eddie Rosario
Pillar’s platoon mate from last year, Eddie Rosario, is playing for the Nationals and not very well. The 2021 NLCS hero owns a 75 OPS+ (25% below league average) with only seven home runs and a batting average south of the Mendoza Line.
Vaughn Grissom
A part of the trade that brought Chris Sale to Atlanta, one of the Braves’ former top prospects has struggled with his new club. Grissom owns a 7 OPS+ (93% below league average). Yes, you read that right. Grissom is batting a putrid .148, which is his calling card, but has dealt with several injuries and been limited to just 23 games.
Michael Soroka
Soroka was traded to the White Sox this offseason, and describing it as a struggle would be sugarcoating it. However, he’s found some semblance of success recently out of the Chicago bullpen.
The Maple Maddux owned a 6.39 ERA over nine starts, compiling an 0-5 record, before being converted to the relief core. Since then, he’s gone 12.2 innings and given up 7 runs, which has dropped his ERA to 6.07. It’s not great but maybe a long relief role can help him find his groove again.
Michael Tonkin
The Tonk Man is a Braves fan favorite and has had a crazy 2024 campaign. The 34-year-old started the season with the Mets and was eventually designated for assignment. The Twins ended up trading for him and then DFA’d him too. The Mets picked him back up before they DFA’d him again.
At that point, it all turned around when the Yankees put a claim in for the veteran in late April. Since then, Tonkin has lowered his ERA to 0.89 ERA in 20.1 innings in the pinstripes.
Kirby Yates
Yates is having a phenomenal year with the Rangers. Across 22.1 innings, he owns an eye-popping 0.81 ERA and 0.806 WHIP, notching eight saves along the way as well. Texas is certainly happy with the free agent signing.
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Frank Jansky/Icon Sportswire
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