Off-day roster move time
What would an off day be without the Braves making various roster moves to shuffle the fringe of their squad? Not this off day, anyway:
The #Braves today returned OF Stuart Fairchild from his rehabilitation assignment and reinstated him from the injured list, and designated OF José Azocar for assignment. Following yesterday’s game, Atlanta returned INF Nacho Alvarez Jr. from his rehabilitation assignment,…
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) June 16, 2025
Despite the long text, none of this really matters. Stuart Fairchild will return to a .260 xwOBA and 45 wRC+ accrued in 36 PAs. Given that Ronald Acuña Jr. is back and Eli White is still on the roster, there won’t be any more “double backup in the outfield corner” stuff, so Fairchild is basically the designated non-Luke Williams pinch-runner at this point. Which seems like an apt role for him.
Jose Azocar got all of one PA for the Braves after getting DFAed by the Mets, clearing waivers, and signing a major league deal with Atlanta about two weeks ago. He also can’t hit (career 74 wRC+), but he does have an xwOBA of .341 this season, which makes him marginally more interesting than Fairchild, perhaps? It doesn’t really matter if all either guy is going to do is cheerlead from the bench, anyway.
Nacho Alvarez Jr. was truly woeful in a cup of coffee with the big league team last year (somehow -0.5 fWAR in just 32 PAs) and missed most of this year with a wrist issue from Spring Training. He made two rehab starts in complex ball, and another two at Triple-A, which is where the Braves are sending him for the time being. Alvarez is one of those guys where the MLEs suggest he can actually be useful to a big league team, but he has weird below-the-surface issues like “hitting any fastball” that pose a substantial problem for his outlook.