Jose

Azocar

Dodd has the most big league experience of the bunch and should get an opportunity at some point during the 2026 season, but he’s not the biggest surprise in this group. That honor goes to JR Ritchie, who posted a stellar 2.25 ERA, 0.58 WHIP and a 14/5 K/BB ratio over 12 innings during Grapefruit League action. Given the injuries in the Braves’ rotation, it’s mildly shocking that he didn’t head north with the big league club.

The 29-year-old outfielder smacked a two-out double off of Liam Hendriks in the third inning, but the Braves were unable to cash him in from there. He then capped off a four-run uprising in the fourth inning with an RBI double that plated Aaron Schunk. Azocar is off to a solid start in his quest to earn a bench spot on the Braves’ Opening Day roster, hitting .389 (7-for-18) with one RBI.

Things have been trending in the wrong direction for Azocar, who had 216 plate appearances in the majors as a rookie in 2022, but just 102, 79 and 21 the last three seasons. Overall, he’s hit .244/.290/.319 in 228 games, two of which actually came with the Braves last summer in between stints in the Mets organization. He seems destined to be Triple-A insurance for Atlanta.

The 29-year-old outfielder elected free agency last week after refusing an outright assignment from the Braves to Triple-A Gwinnett. Before he was with the Braves, he had elected free agency after being DFA’d by the Mets after hitting .278 (5-for-18) over 12 games at the big league level. He’ll serve as extra outfield depth for the Mets at Triple-A Syracuse.

Azocar will test the open market for a new opportunity after receiving exactly one plate appearance during his time with Atlanta. The 29-year-old outfielder went unclaimed on waivers earlier this week after being jettisoned from the club’s 40-man roster.

Azocar spent 17 days with the Braves and wound up with one at-bat, a flyout, in a game the team was losing 10-1. He’s a career .244/.290/.319 hitter in 418 plate appearances.

Azócar opted for free agency Wednesday after the Mets DFA’d him and he cleared waivers. The 29-year-old went 5-for-20 in 12 appearances for the Mets. He’ll take over as the Braves’ fifth outfielder with Stuart Fairchild injured and get the occasional at-bat against a lefty.

Azocar went unclaimed on waivers after being designated for assignment over the weekend. The 29-year-old outfielder hit .278 (5-for-18) with one steal in 12 games with the Mets this season. He’ll head to free agency in search of a new opportunity.

Azócar played sparingly, getting into only 12 games, after coming up from Triple-A Syracuse back in mid-April. There figures to be some interest on waivers.

Soto has started the first 43 games of the season, but the Mets will give the star slugger a Wednesday off in the finale against Pittsburgh ahead of Thursday’s day off for the Mets. Jose Azocar will be the right fielder while Soto rests.