The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Power-hitting Braves prospects reassigned
Reliever also sent to minor-league camp; team left with 45.
Power-hitting prospects Austin Riley and Alex Jackson were reassigned to minor le a gue camp Tuesday, each having showed some strengths and the areas they need to keep working on before they’ll be ready for the majors.
Reliever Luke Jackson also was reassigned to minor league camp, leaving 45 active players on the Braves camp roster after starting
the spring with 62. Riley and Jackson could be the Braves’ third baseman
and catcher of the future but each has played less than a half-season above Single-A ball and both knew
they would be sent to minor league camp at some point in spring training.
Minor league spring games begin this week and each can start to play every day in those games, while playing time would be harder to come by with the big-league team in the final two weeks of camp as lineup regulars play more and more.
Riley, 20, could be the Braves’ third baseman at some point in 2019 and possibly get a late-season call-up this year if he continues the strides he made last season after a promotion to Double-A Mississippi, where he
hit .315 with eight homers and a .900 OPS in 48 games.
Alex Jackson, 22, moved back to catcher a year ago after the Braves got him in a trade from the Mariners, where he played outfield for three minor league seasons after being the sixth overall pick of the 2014 draft out of a San Diego high school. He impressed pitchers and Braves officials with his catching and game-calling skills last year and hit .267 with 19 homers and an .808 OPS in 402 plate appearances in high-A and Double-A.
In Grapefru i t League games this spring, Riley hit 5-for-24 (.208) with two mam
moth homers, three walks and 10 strikeouts, while Jackson was 4-for-18 (.222) with a double and nine strikeouts.
As for Luke Jackson, when he was removed from the 40-man roster in the fall, it made it unlikely he would win an opening-day roster spot given the number of pitchers on the roster competing for the final spots in the bullpen, including two with Rule 5 roster requirements, Anyelo Gomez and Dan Winkler.
Jackson had a 10.80 ERA in four Grapefruit League appearances with six hits, five runs (four earned) and three walks in 3 1/3 innings.
Ex-Blue Jay Carrera
signs: The Braves signed veteran outfielder Ezequiel Carrera to a minor-league contract and will bring him to major league camp to com
pete for the left-field job to start the season.
Carrera, 30, was released Sunday by the Blue Jays, after
hitting a career-best .282 with a .356 on-base percentage and eight homers in 325 plate appearances for Toronto in 2017.
The left-handed hitter could give the Braves a platoon option in left field until top prospect Ronald Acuna takes over the position, then move to the bench.
Or, Carrera could start the season in Triple-A with the Braves if they go with two
others from the group of outfielders that includes out-ofoptions Lane Adams, who has struggled this spring, Preston Tucker and non-roster invitee Dustin Peterson, who has come on strong late in camp with a pair of long home runs.
The Braves are set in center field with Ender Inciarte and in right with Nick Markakis, who’s in the final year of a four-year, $44 million contract.
Carrerra has a .262 average, 19 home runs and .690 OPS in 1,305 plate appearances over parts of seven major league seasons.
The Blue Jays decided this week to release him and Braves general manager Alex Anthopoulos, Toronto’s general manager in 2015 in Carrera’s first season with the team, picked him up to give the Braves another option for left field until Acuna takes over the position.