Braves promote William Woods to the big leagues (UPDATED)

Last night, Braves fans got some pretty rough news that Eddie Rosario is going to be having surgery on his eye due to swelling and issues with his vision. That certainly helps explain why he has been struggling so much at the plate this season, but being out for a couple months when the Braves’ outfield was already thin is less than ideal. However, with Rosario out, the question then became what roster moves will the Braves make?

While we don’t know if the Braves are going to bring up another bat while they wait for Ronald Acuna Jr. to be ready or just keep Travis Demeritte around (nor do we know that the Braves won’t just decide that Acuna is ready REALLY soon), it does appear that we know at least one roster move and this one is for the bullpen.

A look at his surface numbers this season doesn’t tell the full story on William Woods’ season or his upside as there is a very real reason why the team felt compelled to protect him from the Rule 5 draft by adding him to the 40 man roster. After starting the season in the rotation in Mississippi and struggling, the Braves very suddenly moved him into the bullpen hoping that his high octane fastball would play up there. He has, in fact, excelled there enough to warrant a quick promotion to Triple-A Gwinnett. In three relief appearances for Gwinnett, Woods has not given up a baserunner while striking out seven batters in 2.2 innings of work.

UPDATE - The Braves have officially announced the roster move. Eddie Rosario was played on the 10-day injured list.