Braves claim INF Jack Mayfield from Astros

The Braves claimed Jack Mayfield off waivers early Friday afternoon from the Houston Astros.

As the tweet notes, this puts the 40-man roster at 38. Mayfield is a 30 year old utility infielder, who has played some at second base, third base, and shortstop in Houston.

Despite being 30, he has played less than 50 games at the major league level. He seems to play solid defense in general, and is particularly strong at second base, but defensive metrics can be very unreliable in such a small sample size. Mayfield has been horrible offensively in his major league career, posted a wretched 25 career wRC+. With that being said, he has been an average to above average bat for most of his minor league career, including a 2019 triple-A season in which he hit 26 home runs over 100 games. His minor league numbers suggest that the 25 wRC+ could be lower than his potential. Regardless, he projects to compete for a spot on the bench in spring training, and to provide general organizational depth.