Waldrep strikes out five in rehab outing

Waldrep punched out four opposing hitters in the contest while issuing one free pass. All of the damage against him came on a three-run blast by Jordan Walker in the opening inning. Waldrep settled in beautifully afterwards though, keeping the Cardinals off the board into the sixth. He exited with a 5-3 lead and in line for a victory, but the Braves’ bullpen couldn’t oblige. He generated nine whiffs on 76 pitches, posting a solid CSW of 32 percent. That should be good enough to earn him another start against the Pirates in Pittsburgh next week.

Waldrep draws the starting assignment after he wasn’t needed in relief during Wednesday’s contest, thanks to a stellar performance from Reynaldo López. The 24-year-old tossed a pair of scoreless frames in relief during his season debut against the Giants last Friday. He offers enough strikeout upside that he’s a decent streaming option for fantasy managers in deeper mixed leagues.

Holmes taking the ball is contingent on whether Hurston Waldrep makes an appearance in relief during Wednesday’s contest. Simply put, he’ll move into a relief role if Waldrep is available to take the ball on Thursday at Truist Park. He made his first relief appearance of the season over the weekend when he tossed four shutout frames against San Francisco.

The lengthy relief appearance suggests that the Braves will follow through with the idea of putting Hurston Waldrep into the rotation in Holmes’ place next time through. It’s not a lock, since their off day Monday gives them options in how to proceed, but it already seemed to be the plan. Holmes’ relief appearance was his first after 15 starts with a 4-4 record and a 4.17 ERA this season.

It’s unclear if the Braves plan to immediately insert Waldrep back into their rotation or if he’ll be an option to piggyback with someone the first time through, perhaps with Reynaldo Lopez on Friday evening against the Giants. Either way, with his talent level, he’s on the mixed league radar.

Waldrep had been working with the Braves’ Rookie-level affiliate in the Florida Complex League. He’ll continue to work his way back at Triple-A with an eye toward returning to the Braves’ rotation before the All-Star break.

He had been working in the Rookie-level FCL over the past few weeks, so this qualifies as good news for Waldrep’s chances of getting back to the big leagues in short order. Waldrep had loose bodies removed from his elbow in spring training. He might be able to get back to the big leagues before the end of June if everything goes right.

Waldrep struck out four, issued three walks and also uncorked a wild pitch in his second rehab outing in the lower minors. The 24-year-old former top prospect will need a couple additional outings, especially some against higher-level competition, before he’s ready to rejoin Atlanta’s rotation sometime around late June or early July.

Waldrep walked two, but he threw all six of his pitches during his 26-pitch outing. He was also consistently around 97 mph with his fastballs, so this was a positive outing overall. He can take up to a month on this rehab assignment, so we still wouldn’t expect him in Atlanta until the end of June.

Waldrep is returning from surgery to remove loose bodies from his elbow. If all goes well on his rehab assignment, he could join the Braves rotation in about a month. However, it’s not guaranteed that there will be room for him.