Atlanta Braves Suddenly Acquire Young Outfielder Before NLDS

While the Atlanta Braves were preparing for the National League Division Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, the club quietly added an 18-year-old outfielder to its minor-league system.

According to MiLB.com, Atlanta signed Will Henderson, an undrafted free agent who attended St. Martin Catholic Secondary School in Mississauga, Ontario, to a minor-league contract and assigned him to the Florida Complex League Braves.

The move will not affect the postseason roster, but it is the sort of low-profile international or undrafted addition clubs often make while the parent team is still playing.

Henderson’s signing arrived at an unusual moment on the calendar.

Atlanta had just eliminated the Philadelphia Phillies, two games to one, in the National League Wild Card Series, extending a season that already produced a 94-68 record, the third-best mark in the National League.

That finish earned the Braves a date with the Dodgers, who went 100-62 and finished with the second-best record in the league.

Game 1 was scheduled for 4 p.m. EDT on Saturday at Dodger Stadium, with Game 2 set for 8 p.m. EDT on Sunday in Los Angeles.

The series then shifts to Truist Park for Game 3 on Tuesday at 6 p.m. EDT and, if necessary, Game 4 on Wednesday at the same time. A decisive Game 5, if needed, would return to Dodger Stadium at 8 p.m. EDT on Friday.

Every game is available on Fox Sports 1 and Fox One.

The matchup is not a new one. Atlanta won five of the six regular-season meetings, taking two of three in May and sweeping the Dodgers in three games at Truist Park in August.

That record does not erase the gap in regular-season wins, or the fact that Los Angeles holds home-field advantage in a best-of-five series, but it does give the Braves a recent history of success against the team standing in front of them.

The winner advances to the National League Championship Series against the survivor of the Milwaukee Brewers–San Diego Padres Division Series.

On the American League side, the New York Yankees–Tampa Bay Rays winner will meet the Chicago White Sox–Cleveland Guardians winner in the League Championship Series.

For Henderson, none of that is immediate. His path begins in the Florida Complex League, far from the October lights at Dodger Stadium and Truist Park.

For the Braves, the signing is a small organizational note beside a much larger assignment: trying to upset a 100-win Dodgers team and keep a season that already survived the wild card going a little longer.