Another day, another Ronald Acuna Jr. leadoff home run, but the Reds salvage the final game of the 3-game series.
Spencer Strider struck out 7 in 5 innings but allowed 4 runs (3 earned) on 7 hits. The Reds scratched out a run against Didier Fuentes in the 6th and scored their final run in the 7th when Eugenio Suarez dropped what some people might have called the infield fly rule on in some other ballparks* into the front row in right center off Dylan Dodd.
The Braves scored a run in the 9th and loaded the bases with 2 outs, but the hole was too deep.
Jorge Mateo hit his second home run in 2 days in the 5th inning. Maybe the Braves can cobble together enough hot streaks this season amongst their 3 shortstops to create one good shortstop in the aggregate. Michael Harris II joined Acuna as Braves with 2 hits.
The Braves are now 40 – 20 (.667) and lead the NL East by 9 games over Nationals. Toronto comes to town on Tuesday at 7:15 Eastern. Bryce Elder and Kevin Gausman scheduled.
*I’m being facetious; there was nobody on base.
If the Braves DFA Kim, wouldn’t he have to accept an outright to Gwinnett if he wanted to keep his $20M? And someone else would have to take on that $20M to bring him in giving the Braves extra wiggle room at the deadline? Seems like a win/win to me and Kim could work out his problems in the minors. Wouldn’t Jarvis (already on 40-man with options) be better?
For that matter, after his performance today, wouldn’t it be better to DFA Tromp and bring on Handley (already on 40-man with an option)?
We could then have Riley at 3rd and rotate Dubon, Mateo, and Yaz at LF and SS. It worked for Duvall; why not Kim?
I think that if someone claims Kim, they would only owe him the league minimum, and the Braves would be on the hook for the rest. I don’t follow that as closely as others.
I don’t know what one single game is the final straw in deciding to release a player, but as long as the Braves are playing .667 with the roster they have now, I doubt they are in any hurry to do anything irreversible.
My understanding is if he is DFA and claimed, that team would take on the remainder of his contract. If he is released outright, then we owe him and whoever claims him could pay him the minimum.
I would be mighty tempted to see if someone really wants to claim him and take the $12 million he is owed
Thanks for that.
The team that started strong was the one without Kim. You guys don’t think this lead is losable but it is. I’m not saying to release Kim. But if someone else wants that $12M it means a lot more flexibility for the Braves with very little loss. I would note that the Braves won two games against Cincy without Riley and Kim and lost one with them (same thing with the gNats). Winning two of three will quickly turn into winning one of three.
If Duvall can find his stroke at Gwinnett then Kim can and it is better he do so not in the majors. Kim did OK in his rehab assignment but I’d keep him down until he is really hot. Duvall had 20+ HRs in the minors before he came back to the majors.
I think Bummer was irredeemable but I’d have sent him to the minors anyway rather than sinking $9M.
I bet most of us are at least mildly nervous about the Phillies even with a 9 game lead. It’s not like we haven’t blown a 9 game lead at a much later date than June 1 in our history.
The opinions on Kim seem to assume he can get back in 2023 form, and if that were so, we should gamble on getting that kind of player back. I think that player is gone and the best you will get is something close to what Dubon and Mateo already give you. It seems he has steadily declined since 2023 and his injuries have masked that a little. Best to send him down and see if he catches fire. If not, oh well.
Agreed. 2023 Kim might come back, but the preponderance of evidence says that’s not the way to bet. The rough part is that if Dubon, Mateo, and Kim all finish the season hitting at their career levels, it is going to be very bad. And that’s if Kim can even claw his way back to his career level.
Four months to go, and we might win the division by 18 games, or we might lose it by 9. Every team has a ceiling, but no team has a floor.
If the Braves need anything at the deadline it would be a slugging LF. Dubon should only play IF.
Andrelton Simmons is playing ball again in Mexico.
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7322869/2026/06/01/andrelton-simmons-angels-braves-mexico-defense/
I think a DFA of Kim is far more likely than outright release. Nobody is claiming him with the money owed, and if he refuses the assignment, he forfeits the salary. Plus, given the lack of clear alternatives, you’d probably at least want to keep him as depth in case he finds something or if the others turn into pumpkins.
Bingo.
And yes, potential pumpkin protection.
That is exactly what I have been saying except I think the Braves have plethora of SS candidates now beginning with Jarvis and Gil (even Nacho). It’s just a matter of getting there. Even if Dubon and Mateo turn into pumpkins, they could hardly be worse.
Hurston Waldrep started his rehab assignment with the FCL team today. He was sitting 97-98 mph with both the sinker and four-seamer. Looks like he threw the trademark splitter just once, at 86 mph. Wish we could get some more granular data from this outing, but still, it’s encouraging to see that his velo was good.
Does Kim forfeit the salary if he were to refuse the hypothetical DFA? I thought the rule was if he has more than 5 years of experience he could decline the minor league assignment and still get his salary. I think he has more than 5 years of service time now.
So we would be stuck on the hook for the majority of his salary, as nobody else would claim him until he cleared waivers. The other team that signed him afterwards would only be on the hook for the prorated minimum, which is virtually nothing, while we would still have to pay him the rest.
Might as well hang on to him and hope he can regain some semblance of his old self. And if not, he can still play any of the IF positions as a utility guy.
Yes he can refuse. If he refuses you can either just keep him on the roster or release him.
If the player with five years of experience refuses a minor league assignment then the team has to keep him on the major league roster or release him. The Braves are only responsible for his salary if they release him or keep him on the roster. Seems like a chance worth taking – either he stays on the roster, gets claimed, or goes to the minors to get his full salary. For any of those three, the Braves are in no worse condition.
According to Fangraphs Roster Resource, Kim has exactly 5.000 years of MLB time. Maybe it would have been better for them to make the decision last week……
I think that was recorded before the season started Roger. Doesn’t change the overall point though.
No team is going to claim him, and would wait until he passed through so they wouldn’t get stuck with the salary. We are still on the hook paying him regardless if it’s for us or another team.
lol, the Braves resigned Carrasco again and optioned Molina. Just going to keep exploiting that loophole to essentially make this a 14 man staff.
Anyone wanna trade Eli White for Jo Adell? Seems like a win/win for both. Angels get speed and defense and Braves get platoon hitting.
That way Dubon gets to stay on the infield and might be a good sub for Riley.
Wouldn’t have guessed it, but I saw on BRef just now that Albies has almost as many career bWAR as RAJ, 26.1 to 29.7, and that’s with RAJ homering in his last 4 games. Even though Albies has had several injuries himself, he has 1,000 more AB than RAJ. He’s a year older & came up half a season earlier, but still, being able to stay in the lineup is a big part of a good player’s value.
Yeah, I bet that there are quite a few players around the league that have a similar amount of WAR to Acuna that you wouldn’t think simply because they have stayed healthy.
Man, I love Brandon Gaudin. He was born for this job.
Iggy has made things a little too interesting his last few appearances.
I’ll never complain about zero blown saves and zero losses.
Watching Leon in the 9 spot brings me back to the pre-universal DH days.
Nah, pitchers ran better.
I was gonna throw in a crack about some pitchers actually hitting their weight, but I think if Sandy did that, he’d be an All-Star, lol
I will say he seems really good on challenges, which is valuable.
Recapped