Braves select contracts of Darius Vines, Roddery Munoz and Braden Shewmake

The Atlanta Braves announced several roster moves Tuesday in advance of the deadline to protect eligible players from the Rule 5 Draft. The team selected the contracts of pitchers Roddery Munoz and Darius Vines along with infielder Braden Shewmake. To make room on the 40-man roster, Atlanta designated Silvino Bracho, William Woods and Guillermo Heredia for assignment.

Vines is probably the biggest name of this group as he put up a good showing at Mississippi and finished the 2021 season with a cup of coffee at Gwinnett. Munoz put up good strikeout numbers at Rome and will be slated to start the 2022 season at Mississippi. Shewmake was the 21st pick in the 2019 Draft. He has struggled to hit at Triple A, but could figure in the mix as a utility player at some point.

Heredia was one of the team’s spiritual leaders the last couple of seasons, but his production on the field was lacking. He appeared in 74 games in 2022, mostly as a defensive replacement in the outfield, and hit .158/.220/.342 in just 82 plate appearances. It wouldn’t be surprising to see him brought back on a minor league deal.

Woods is a little more surprising, but he has struggled with injuries the last couple of seasons and wasn’t exactly impressive in the Arizona Fall League. Bracho was brought in as pitching depth and finished the regular season on the major league roster. Both Bracho and Heredia were arbitration eligible.