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The Braves made a notable roster move amid their series with the Padres, optioning JR Ritchie back to Gwinnett and activating Martin Perez from the Injured List.
Perez will start tonight as the Braves aim to take Game 3 against San Diego.
A 15-year veteran, Perez has missed the last couple of weeks after taking a line drive to the forearm off the bat of Juan Soto. He helped carry the Braves rotation over the first two months when they really needed someone to step up in the wake of injuries to Spencer Schwellenbach, Spencer Strider, and Hurston Waldrep.
However, his last three starts are probably more indicative of the pitcher he is at this stage of his career. He hasn’t made it out of the fifth inning in any of them, giving up a combined 11 earned runs. Not horrendous, but the Braves are really just hoping he can give the team some length. Nobody in the rotation has been able to do that consistently outside of Chris Sale, which has taken a real toll on the bullpen.
The other notable aspect of this move is Ritchie being optioned. It was necessary after he threw just 3.2 innings yesterday in the Braves’ loss to the Padres, but he’s now been optioned four times this season. A player can only be optioned five times in a season — after that, he has to clear waivers to return to the club, which Ritchie surely wouldn’t.
So it’ll be interesting to see how the Braves handle things with him moving forward. It could be a while before we see him in Atlanta again. Of course, there’s also a chance we never see him in Atlanta again. With the trade deadline looming, his name will almost certainly be floated a lot in conversations as Alex Anthopoulos looks to upgrade the roster.
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