The story of Travis Demeritte‘s rise and fall is a familiar story told over and over, and yet I feel as though we as fans, who by all things within us, just want to believe in something real. It’s like we all turn back into that 11 year old kid who knows Santa Claus isn’t real but still mails that Christmas list out to the North Pole just in case. We as Braves fans have our own list: Charles Thomas, Tony Tarasco, Adonis Garcia, Tyler Pastornicky, Wilson Betemit, Andy Marte, Jordan Schafer, Joey Devine, Lucas Sims, Christian Bethancourt, Jose Peraza, Shae Simmons. The list is unending, just like the disappointment.
We had seen the MLB track record, the DFAs, the releases, the lack of promotions, but something within the fan always hopes that the MILB numbers can somehow translate to the bigs THIS TIME, even if for a fleeting moment.
And in 2022, for a small moment in time, Demeritte captured our hearts.
The Rise of Travis Demeritte
After the first 13 games of the season, the Braves were somehow 6-7 despite the fact that their Acuna-less OF were batting like children inserted into an MLB lineup:
- Adam Duvall, CFer, .594 OPS on 4/19
- Alex Dickerson, RFer, .170 OPS on 4/19
- Eddie Rosario, LFer, .294 OPS on 4/19
It was a disaster that led to a DFA of Alex Dickerson, a trip to a surgeon for Eddie Rosario, and a promotion for Travis Demeritte.
On April 22nd, Demeritte, in his 2nd stint with the Braves organization, finally got his shot and capitalized right away, going 1-2 with a double. He stayed hot for 17 total games and after 62 PAs, he was carrying a .914 OPS that included 6 walks, 2 doubles, and 3 HRs. I’d been a Demeritte fan since his acquisition from the Rangers and was beginning to convince myself that he was actually going to stick this time. Then… Demeritte got Kelly Johnson‘d.
The Fall of Travis Demeritte
O-fer streaks happen pretty regularly for seasoned vets. Timing gets off. Fatigue sets in. The grind is just too much. However, for flashes in the pan, it’s different and the old adage, “the book is out” becomes a real thing. In his next 8 games, Demeritte went 0-33 with 14 Ks and looked defeated because, unfortunately for him, he was. The O-for streak ended on May 27 and so did his time on the Braves MLB team.
I hope Demeritte lands on his feet again. I like pulling for the underdog. He seems to have a valuable skillset with undeniable athletic ability. I just wouldn’t expect it to be with the Braves as he became a free agent in October.
But I’ll always be a fan. If he has nothing else, he’ll always have those 17 games where he carried a struggling outfield nearly all by himself.
Odorizzi apparently exercised his option. He was traded to Texas with $10MM cash for Kolby Allard.
Maybe Atlanta sees something in Allard, but I’m not sure what it is. The guy has a 6.07 ERA over 5 years and 232 innings, along with a 7.29 ERA last year. Considering Odorizzi was involved, it still appears to be a good trade.
Yeah, we’ll see. Maybe there’s someone in the organization who can help him rediscover himself, but I think at this point he’s just organizational cannon fodder who serves as a poignant barometer of Jake Odorizzi’s trade value.
@3 I think this is right.
It’s good that AA is talking with their GM. Texas is the best fit for Ozuna. One can dream…
@3 True story on the value of Odorizzi
At the least, the Allard acquisition is intriguing. There’s already a massive logjam of SPs that are the AAA/MLB types. Allard makes number 10 that isn’t recovering from injury. Just feels like AA is building a AAA team to fill out the roster then using some real chips to grab MLB pieces. If I were a betting man, my money would be on Muller, Tarnok, and maybe one other AAA SP will be playing in a different org before Opening Day 2023.
Seems like we paid a lot of money to get rid of Will Smith. Yikes.
Yeah, it feels that way. I think the Odo trade was reasonable at the time, it just didn’t work out. Same with the Rosario extension, it appears. The key is having enough budget to be able to make a few mistakes.
Just gotta not think about Will Smith’s post-trade 2.66 FIP/26.7% K-rate/4.4% BB-rate/3.27 ERA and remember Odorizzi’s division-clinching start.
Will Smith did not give up a single run yet again in the postseason. 😉
I know AA is very deliberate when it comes to these things, but GEEZ, can he just go ahead and offer Dansby his QO?
Could it mean they’re trying to get something done by 5pm?
I am wondering if the Odorizzi move was driven partly by timing. As in, maybe they found out Odorizzi wanted to opt in and then said “what if we pay you the buyout, resign you and trade you where you want to go.” Then (obviously an unknown scenario) wouldn’t the buyout count against this year and then the only thing on next year’s payroll is 3.5 million (not 10).
@ 10 – You are correct about Will Smith. He also pitched a scoreless inning against Philadelphia in his final outing of the regular season. However, allowing 3 hits along with3 strikeouts in a 10-0 win in his only inning pitched does not appear to be something that would be sustainable.
@13: You’re right, cliff. But since the Baves are going to be nowhere near luxury tax land, the “this year vs. next year” spending stuff is meaningless and arbitrary, even to Liberty Media.
@ 15,
Well, McGuirk said top 5 payroll. That would be in the luxury tax. Anthopoulos said “no luxury tax.” So, they are calculating a number that pushes up to it and everything that they can take off next year and pull onto this year will make that fit better. If we play in the big leagues on shortstops and add that to our arbs and guarantees, we would not be able to make a second big acquisition (or at least, that would set the limit to how big that next acquisition could be).
Joc Pederson and Martin Perez received qualifying offers. What is happening?!
Perez is resigning with the Rangers, don’t know why they bothered, same as Anderson with the Dodgers. I have to believe the Giants have a handshake deal with Jock not to accept his offer. Why he would do it is a mystery but if it were on the level he already would have accepted!
MLBTR is not predicting the Braves to play much in the FA market – maybe relievers. They think Dansby will end up with the Cubs(???). I’d like to think AA has something up his sleeve.
Joc getting a QO is weird as hell.
New thread.
https://bravesjournal.mystagingwebsite.com/2022/11/11/2022-braves-player-review-dansby-swanson/
Nice DOB in the atletic — https://theathletic.com/3801880/2022/11/10/mike-soroka-braves-status-injury/
Ryan: did you see the piece I put on the dashboard tuesday night?