Braves fans must feel like they are living in Groundhog Day this year, another impact injury and another signing of a retread player who got cut from another team. Gio Urshela joins Whit Merrifield and Ramon Laureano as guys who couldn’t quite put it together for a different team but could make an impact for the Braves. Lucky for Braves fans they have a wizard for a general manager in Alex Anthopolus.
Atlanta Needs Some Magic
Before getting cut from the Phillies Whit Merrifield was slashing .199/.277/.295, and since signing with Atlanta has improved his slash line to .236/.364/.345. Before getting cut from the Cleveland Laureano was slashing .143/.265/.229 and again since signing with the Braves has shown great improvement turning his slash line into .286/.323/.549. While there is a difference between impact on an actual baseball team and impact at the fantasy level at this point in the season anyone who is getting hot is worth streaming to help you down the stretch.
Gio Urshela was cut by the tigers Sunday 8-18-24 after only batting .243 with an OBP of .286 and a slugging percent of .333. That would turn out to be good news for Atlanta as they would find out the following day that their everyday third baseman fractured his hand and would be missing the remainder of the regular season.
If Gio Urshela Can Be Fixed, It’s with Atlanta
As we have seen the Braves are not afraid to give players a chance to see if they can fix any issues and be contributors. The best news out of all of this is that Urshela was just cut Sunday and signed by Atlanta Tuesday so Urshela won’t need any minor league games to get up to major league speed as he hasn’t had any time off.
While it is yet to be seen what Urshela will do as a Brave, he is being put in the lineup immediately, batting eighth on the same day he was signed which speaks to how ready the Braves coaching staff feels he is. Even though Urshela is having a down season he has a career batting average of .273 with 69 home runs across his nine seasons in the big leagues. The Braves feel they can fix whatever is bringing him down this year and bring his numbers closer to his career average, as they have done with Merrifield and Laureano.
To Pick Up Urshela, Or Not? That Is The Question
If you feel strongly about the Brave’s ability to turn a down season around or if you feel strongly about Urshela’s ability overall then you can pick him up if you’d like. Odds are he’s available on waivers unless you’re in a really deep league. Even with all the injuries, being in the Braves lineup Is still a better situation than being in Detroit’s lineup as currently constructed.
Odds are there are guys on waivers that you can pick up that are performing better currently than Urshela. It’s still worth keeping an eye on how Urshela performs with his new team as now is the time to ride the hot hand into your fantasy playoffs.
Urshela being inserted into the Braves lineup the day he was signed tells us that he will not struggle for playing time unless he doesn’t perform well at all. If you happen to be in a deep league where you need someone who is going to get at-bats every day, Urshela may be worth the pickup.
It seems like his floor was what was happening in Detroit. If he shows no improvement he could still fill a spot on your roster especially if you play in an NL-only league as he wouldn’t have been rostered prior.
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