When Could Waldrep Be Back With Braves? Maybe Soon

The narrative around Atlanta Braves prospect Hurston Waldrep changed with a single outing in the Major Leagues. Instead of doubts about whether he will ever be able to contribute, the question has now become when he’ll be back.

He got his shot via an expanded roster spot during the MLB Speedway Classic. If it wasn’t for already having another player being the appointed player first, they could have brought him up and sent him back without having to make a corresponding move. 

It’s an added bonus when they can reap the benefits of the extra roster spot. This stint in the Majors was night and day from his first call-up last season. 

“He’s come a long way,” Manager Brian Snitker said ahead of Monday’s game. “I think the time in the minor leagues has served him well. I feel like his delivery has cleaned up. The secondary stuff, the command, everything looked really, really good.” 

Snitker was confident in the possibility that he would be back in Atlanta during this homestand. 

“I mean, we got doubleheaders coming up at the end of the week,” he said. “We’ll see kind of how we get there, but, yeah, absolutely. I think after that outing, we will see.” 

Having the doubleheader against the Marlins on Saturday circles us back to the expanded roster spot. What we saw during the Speedway Classic is standard protocol for a doubleheader. It gives teams a chance to have an extra player available because they’re playing at least 18 innings in one day.

Once again, they can bring him up, benefit from his services and then send him back to Triple-A without having to shuffle too much around. They could end up actually recalling him after that and sending someone else down, but they might as well take advantage of the opportunity first. 

The Braves played the first game at 1:15 p.m., with the second game being played at 7:15 p.m. One of the games is part of a makeup from a rainout that occurred during the first homestand of the year. 

Since the next off-day is on Monday, the Braves will need to figure out who is pitching for seven games in six days. Joey Wentz and Spencer Strider will take care of the final two games of the Brewers series, but the rest is to be determined. Carlos Carrasco is an option. Fedde, who pitched in Monday’s loss, should be good for Sunday, and Bryce Elder will get one of the games. 

That leaves two open spots. Waldrep will likely get one of them, and then they have more to figure out. Maybe Austin Cox can pitch the opening innings of a bullpen day, like they tried to do in the MLB Speedway Classic before weather allowed Waldrep to prove himself. 

The implication is that it’s a when instead of an if, and that’s a big step for Waldrep’s career.

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