Braves signing Carlos Santana to minor league deal

The Braves got all of their runs on homers, with Michael Harris II, Ozzie Albies and Drake Baldwin contributing solo shots. Smith’s homer came off Griffin Canning in the fourth. The Padres had Yuki Matsui up in the pen at the time, and it would have been interesting to see if Smith, who is 4-for-28 with one extra-base hit against southpaws this season, would have remained in the game had they made the switch. The homer was Smith’s seventh on the season. He’s likely looking at a reduced role or perhaps the loss of his roster spot when Ronald Acuña Jr. comes off the IL.

The Padres have left-hander Kyle Hart opening in front of Griffin Canning today, but with Smith and Mike Yastrzemski in the lineup, the Braves are treating it as if they were facing a right-handed starter. As a result, Joey Bart and Eli White, who both usually start versus lefties, are on the bench. Smith could use a big day; he seems like a candidate to lose his roster spot when Ronald Acuña Jr. is activated.

Kyle Farmer was released to open up a spot. Yastrzemski missed the minimum 10 days with elbow inflammation. He’ll likely take over as the right fielder against right-handers for now. Once Ronald Acuña Jr. returns, Dominic Smith, the typical DH against righties, could lose most of his playing time and or maybe his roster spot entirely.

Smith strolled to the dish with the bases juiced and a run already in and lined a ball off of the ankle of Cardinals’ starter Dustin May and into right field, turning into a three-run double that gave the Braves a 5-3 advantage. That would be all of their offense in the ballgame though and Smith’s only hit in four at-bats. His bat has cooled a bit following his hot start to the season, though he’s still hitting a respectable .278/.320/.417 with six homers and 35 RBI in 207 plate appearances.

As reported by ESPN’s Jeff Passan on Saturday evening, the 40-year-old slugger joins the Braves on a minor league deal. He’ll report to Triple-A Gwinnett where he’ll function as insurance in the even that Dominic Smith’s recent struggles continue. Santana was just 2-for-24 (.083) with eight strikeouts in his limited action with the Diamondbacks before being released on Friday.

The 40-year-old slugger was designated for assignment earlier in the week. He hasn’t played since April 5 due to a right adductor injury and has not performed well on his minor league rehab assignment. He’s now free to explore other opportunities if he chooses to do so.

Santana (right adductor) hasn’t played since April 5th and has not looked good during his rehab assignment. The 40-year-old was just 2-for-24 for Arizona before suffering his injury. With no room for him on the active roster, the Diamondbacks have decided to move on.

Santana was removed from the game in the sixth inning, but the Diamondbacks could have very well just decided they didn’t want their 40-year-old first baseman to withstand any more abuse. Santana has been on the IL since April 7th with a groin injury and then suffered an oblique strain in early May while beginning a rehab assignment. In the meantime, Pavin Smith has returned to the Diamondbacks lineup, so it remains to be seen what happens to Santana’s playing time when he does return.

Santana, 40, will begin his rehab assignment at the lowest level. The veteran infielder will likely need a couple of weeks of games in the minors before being an option near the end of June for the Diamondbacks.

Smith came into this game without a hit in more than a week and was stuck in his first slump of the season. It seems like he ended that decisively with his two-run shot in this one that more or less ended Pirates’ starter Braxton Ashcraft’s outing and more or less put this game away. Still starting against all right-handed pitchers the Braves face, Smith has had a magnificent season to this point with six home runs, 28 RBI, a .309 batting average, and an .830 OPS through 52 games.