Braves Select Elieser Hernández

The Braves announced that left-hander Martín Pérez has been placed on the 15-day injured list with low back inflammation, a move that was previously reported. Right-hander Elieser Hernández has been selected to take his place on the roster. To open a 40-man spot for Hernández, righty Hurston Waldrep has been recalled and placed on the major league 60-day injured list.

Atlanta and Hernández have been doing this dance all year. It’s a dance the club used to do with guys like Jesse Chavez and Carlos Carrasco. The steps are that the pitcher is added to the roster, used to soak up innings for a short time, then he is designated for assignment. After clearing waivers, he usually elects free agency and signs a new minor league deal, setting him up to start the process all over again. This is the fourth time this year that the club has selected Hernández’s contract.

The appeal is obvious for the team, as they effectively get a 41st man on their 40-man roster. They can turn to this extra arm whenever the rest of the staff is taxed, then cut him to bring in another fresh arm as needed. For the player, he would presumably prefer a more steady gig but the fact that he keeps clearing waivers indicates no club is willing to give him that. With this on-off cycle, at least he gets sporadic hits of big league pay and service time.

Around the transactions, Hernández has absorbed 11 innings over four appearances for Atlanta this year. He has allowed three earned runs and struck out 11 opponents but has given out six walks and hit a batter.

The team has little on the line for the next few days. Technically, a first-round bye is still possible, but not very plausible. They are four back of the Dodgers with four games to play. Atlanta holds the tiebreaker and could get in if they run the table as the Dodgers lose out the remainder, but the most likely situation is Atlanta having to play in the Wild Card round.

For the next few days, their priority will be keeping their pitchers healthy for that series. Tyler Mahle is scheduled to take the ball tonight with TBD after that. Hernández will step in to work some innings at some point and may be bumped off the roster right after.

As for Waldrep, it was reported in August that he would require Tommy John surgery. He will miss the remainder of this season and likely all of next year as well. Now that he has been called up and put on the major league IL, he will collect big league pay and service time for a few days. The IL goes away five days after the World Series, so he will need to be reinstated to the 40-man roster at that time.