It’s an exciting day in Braves country. The club held off from making the announcement as long as they could, but Ian Anderson has been called up and will make his MLB debut tonight against the Yankees.
The #Braves today selected RHP Ian Anderson to the major league roster and reinstated OF Ronald Acuña Jr. from the 10-day injured list. Anderson will wear No. 48 and is scheduled to start tonight’s game. pic.twitter.com/gcG5Sr0L7i
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) August 25, 2020
Ronald Acuña has also been added to the active roster from the IL. That would typically be the best news of the day, but Tuesday belongs to Anderson — Atlanta’s third-ranked prospect and the most highly-touted pitcher in their farm system.
To make room for the Anderson and Acuña, the Braves optioned Touki Toussaint and Alex Jackson to Gwinnett camp.
In order to make room on the active roster, the club optioned RHP Touki Toussaint and C Alex Jackson to the team’s alternate training site at Gwinnett.
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) August 25, 2020
Ever since Toussaint struck out a career-high nine in 6 2/3 innings against the Blue Jays, he just hasn’t shown any control of his pitches, which made this an easy decision for the Braves. Alex Jackson was simply holding a roster spot until one of Acuña, Albies, or Markakis was ready to return.
Anderson was named the organizational Pitcher of the Year last season after posting a 2.68 ERA with 147 strikeouts in just 111 innings for the Mississippi Braves. However, he’s only made five starts in AAA and struggled a bit, recording a 6.57 ERA in 24.2 innings. Still, the Braves view him as a pitcher that could be at the top of their rotation in the future, and he’s obviously shown enough this offseason to warrant a call up over a guy like Tucker Davidson.
Hopefully, he does enough to stick for the rest of the year. The Braves are desperate for rotation help, and Anderson brings with him incredible upside. Another side note: he is a New York kid and gets to make his major league debut against the Yankees. Anderson will need to keep control of his emotions, but this is a day he will never forget.
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