The Braves announced Monday that they’ve yet again designated righty Carlos Carrasco for assignment. Atlanta also placed veteran lefty Martín Pérez on the 15-day injured list due to a left forearm contusion. In a pair of corresponding moves, Atlanta recalled right-hander JR Ritchie from Triple-A Gwinnett and selected the contract of right-hander and former first-round pick Owen Murphy from Gwinnett.
Baseball fans — certainly MLBTR readers — ought to know the drill by now with Carrasco. The 39-year-old veteran has been designated for assignment by Atlanta a ridiculous seven times in the past calendar year. This is the sixth time this season alone that the Braves have chosen to DFA Carrasco.
The cycle isn’t tied to Carrasco’s performance, nor is it an indication that the team has soured on him. Quite to the contrary, the Braves clearly value Carrasco as a depth option and a veteran mentor for their younger arms. But since he can’t be optioned to the minor leagues, Atlanta designates Carrasco for assignment whenever there’s a need to bring some fresh arms into the ‘pen. Carrasco clears waivers, elects free agency and quickly re-signs on a new minor league deal. As I laid out a month ago in our weekly Mailbag column for Trade Rumors Front Office subscribers, there are various financial and contractual benefits available to Carrasco by choosing the elect-free-agency-and-re-sign route rather than simply accepting an outright assignment.
It’s an extreme example of what’s becoming an increasingly common arrangement around the league. We’ve seen various clubs utilize veteran, out-of-options pitchers in this regard — keeping them in the organization as what’s effectively a 41st man on the 40-man roster. Each time Carrasco re-signs, he’s likely receiving more favorable salary splits and opt-out language, among other potential perks. Most teams using this setup don’t DFA a player seven times in a calendar year, but Carrasco is clearly amenable to the setup. If he weren’t, he’d simply sign somewhere else upon clearing waivers. Atlanta offers him a frequent — likely his best — opportunity to continually return to the majors and collect major league service and pay, however.
Carrasco’s most recent outing with Atlanta sent his ERA soaring from 3.68 to 5.94. He pitched two innings in relief against his former Mets club and was roughed up for five runs on five hits and a pair of walks. He’d mostly been solid in small samples prior to that point. Assuming he once again clears waivers, elects free agency and re-signs, he’ll be back in Gwinnett before long. The veteran righty has pitched well with the Stripers, appearing in seven games (six starts) and logging a 2.78 ERA, 19.5% strikeout rate, 6.8% walk rate and 50.5% ground-ball rate in 32 1/3 innings.
As for the 35-year-old Pérez, he was struck in the forearm by a 92 mph line-drive off the bat of Juan Soto in his most recent start. Subsequent X-rays were negative, but the Braves sent him for a CT scan anyway. It seems there’s no fracture at play, but Atlanta will use the looming All-Star break to get Pérez an extended breather to let that battle scar mend. He’ll probably return not long after the All-Star break, assuming future imaging doesn’t reveal any damage that’s currently being masked by inflammation.
Pérez signed a minor league deal with the Braves in free agency but has become a vital part of manager Walt Weiss’ rotation in a season that’s been punctuated by rotation injuries. The well-traveled southpaw has pitched 81 1/3 innings, mostly as a starter, and worked to a sharp 3.54 earned run average. Pérez isn’t missing many bats (18.6 K%) and hasn’t had his best command (9.6 BB%), and he’s cooled off after a torrid start (4.57 ERA over his past nine turns). There’s no taking away the results he’s already logged, though. There are many reasons the Braves have managed to not only weather their rash of pitching injuries but thrive in spite of them, and Pérez’s performance is among the most prominent.
Murphy, 22, was the No. 20 overall draft pick back in 2022. He’s widely regarded as one of the Braves’ ten best prospects. While the Chicago native isn’t having a dominant season in Gwinnett, he’s been solid: 4.44 ERA, 27.1 K%, 11.2 BB%, 81 innings pitched.
Were it not for injury, Murphy may have reached the majors sometime last season. He underwent Tommy John surgery in 2024 after a dominant start to his season at the High-A level (41 innings, 1.54 ERA, 38.7 K%, 7.7 BB%). That wiped out the remainder of his ’24 season and nearly all of his ’25 campaign, though he did make six starts in High-A late last year.
Murphy works off a four-seamer that sits 92.3 mph, supporting that primary offering with a deep arsenal that includes a cutter, slider, curveball, changeup and very occasional sinker. His slider and curve draw better grades than the changeup, but the varied repertoire helps him keep hitters guessing in the box. Dominant High-A numbers notwithstanding, most scouting reports on Murphy peg him with a fourth starter’s ceiling.
Ritchie is the more highly regarded of today’s pair of prospect promotions, though he’s already pitched in the majors quite a bit this season, logging a 4.53 ERA in 43 2/3 innings (seven starts, two relief appearances). For now, both Ritchie and Murphy will work out of the Atlanta bullpen, per MLB.com’s Mark Bowman. The Braves have Chris Sale, Reynaldo Lopez, Bryce Elder, Hurston Waldrep and Grant Holmes in the rotation at the moment, so Ritchie and Murphy will provide some length while giving Atlanta fans a potential glimpse at a pair of future rotation contributors.
