A no-good, awful, very bad Monday for the Braves.
Yesterday could go down as one of the more miserable days for Braves country in recent memory.
It started off with some intriguing news, with the Braves designating Hector Neris for assignment and officially bringing Jesse Chavez back to Atlanta. Then, there was the acquisition of former Reds outfielder Stuart Fairchild to give the Braves even more outfield depth, which seemed a bit odd at the moment the move was made.
But unfortunately, the news of the day did not stop there. Within a 90 minute time span, it was first confirmed that Jurickson Profar, the big offseason acquisition for the Braves, would be suspended for 80 games and miss the postseason due to testing positive for PEDs. Then, starter Reynaldo Lopez was announced to be heading to the IL with right shoulder inflammation. Bryce Elder was recalled to the Braves in a corresponding move.
As a result, Atlanta was now without one of the better bats and arms for the foreseeable future, to go along with a historically bad start to the season. And if things could not get even more difficult, the team itself went to 0-5 with a 6-1 loss vs the Dodgers.
Braves News
In a bit of positive news, good health updates were provided on Ronald Acuna Jr. potentially ramping up his baseball activity in April and Sean Murphy beginning a rehab assignment on Tuesday.
Ivan looks at how the Braves offensive approach to start this year compares to previous production.
The best thing about the Braves series to start the season against the Padres is that it finally ended.
Mark Bowman provided more details on how the team handled the Profar news on Monday.
MLB News
“Torpedo Bats” are beginning to make an impact around baseball, as they helped Elly De La Cruz of the Reds go deep twice on Monday.
After acquiring Garrett Crochet in the offseason, the Boston Red Sox ensured he would stay in Beantown for a while as they gave him a 6-year, $170 million dollar extension.
The Tigers placed offseason acquisition Gleyber Torres on the Injured List.