With the Atlanta Braves set to wrap up their series against the New York Mets, Walt Weiss addressed a few of the biggest talking points before first pitch, including Owen Murphy’s new assignment, the continued importance of the farm system, and Austin Riley’s effort to shake off his slump.
Murphy’s role is straightforward for now. Weiss said the call-up gives Atlanta another arm to help manage the bullpen workload, especially with the club having leaned on a seven-man relief group for a while.
“Good for him [earning a call-up],” began Weiss when talking about Owen Murphy. “He’s going to protect us out of the ‘pen.
We’ve been running with a seven-man ‘pen for a while so at some point that’s going to run its course - and it probably has. [Murphy] will protect us with the ability to go long.
He’s on schedule with his starts and he’s got a full tank of gas.”
Weiss made it clear that Murphy’s job in this stint is not to audition for something bigger. For now, he’s being brought in as a bulk option, not as a candidate to slide into the rotation.
The conversation then turned to the bigger picture, and Weiss didn’t shy away from how much the Braves have leaned on their player pipeline this season. He called the system’s impact “important, critical, even,” and pointed to the way Atlanta has to operate compared with teams that can simply buy help in free agency.
“We’re not like the other markets who go out and make a big splash in the free agency, so I think we do a really nice job of doing a little bit of everything. You gotta rely on your system and scouting and development and I think they’ve done a nice job when it comes to player development.”
He also said the organization’s prospect depth has changed significantly over the last couple of years.
“We’ve come a long way in a couple years prospect-wise,” continued Weiss. “A couple of years ago, we were talking about our system being dried up and now all of a sudden, there’s quite a few prospects.”
Weiss also weighed in on Austin Riley, who entered the finale with three hits and three RBI over the last two games. Riley has flashed signs of life before only to fall back into a rough stretch, but Weiss said the work is there and the track record still gives him confidence.
“He’s certainly putting in the work,” stated Weiss when it came to what he’s seen from Austin Riley behind the scenes lately. I’ve talked about how there’s a tipping point where it goes from physical to mental at times and I’m not sure that’s the case with Austin but speaking from experience…he’s putting in the work and he’s got a really good track record so it makes you believe that it’s going to work out.“
“We’ve got some recent examples with Ozzie and Harris last year. He really struggled in the first half of last season and then he finished strong and carried it into this year,” continued Weiss. “It’s nice to have a recent example that gives you hope and I’m sure it gives Austin hope that he can turn this thing around and end up having a really good second half and a really good season.”
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Into that mix comes Danny Young, the left-hander the Braves have quietly gotten back after his injury layoff. His early work this season has been encouraging enough to give Atlanta another option for mid-to-high-leverage spots against left-handed hitters, and perhaps a way to ease the load on some of the other arms that have been asked to carry more lately. The bigger question is how quickly the Braves lean into that role, and whether Young can turn a useful return into something more than just a temporary fix. [Read more 🡒]
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The outfield search is a little murkier, with Taylor Ward looking like the most realistic target if Atlanta wants to add a bat without emptying the system. Shortstop is another area worth watching, but the price tag on the top names would be steep enough to make any deal complicated fast. For Alex Anthopoulos, the pressure is less about making a splash than avoiding another deadline that leaves the roster looking almost exactly the same when the dust settles. [Read more 🡒]