Braves place Spencer Strider on IL, recall Alan Rangel, activate Ehire Adrianza

A few days ago, when the Braves reshuffled their rotation, it looked like they were giving Spencer Strider a breather and lining him up to face the Mets in Atlanta.

Now, all of that appears to have been thrown into disarray, as Strider is hitting the Injured List and appears likely to miss the rest of the regular season:

At the time that Bryce Elder was announced to be the starter for last Wednesday’s game against Washington, Strider’s oblique ailment was downplayed. For whatever reason, as we await further reporting or comment on this roster move, it has now been termed serious enough to warrant an IL stint. Given that you can only backdate such stints three days, Strider will be ineligible to appear for the remainder of the regular season. The Braves will have to figure something else out for one of the remaining three games against the Mets.

Bundled with this unfortunate news is that Alan Rangel is being promoted to the majors for the first time. Rangel was added to the 40-man roster last offseason and spent the year repeating Double-A, where he had an uninspiring 4.30 FIP and 4.52 xFIP, showing issues with both walks and homers.

The Braves also activated Ehire Adrianza from the Injured List and optioned Rylan Bannon. The latter made his first appearance in a Braves uniform as a defensive replacement during last night’s shellacking in Philadelphia, but didn’t get a PA. Adrianza returns to a line featuring a 39 wRC+ and -0.5 fWAR in 105 PAs; he’s gotten 11 PAs in five games with the Braves since being acquired ahead of the Trade Deadline.

The Braves’ division odds dipped below 15 percent with last night’s loss and the Mets’ win. They’ve likely tumbled a bit more now, as Strider will have to be replaced in the rotation. The Braves can still win the NL East —all they have to do is what they’ve done most of the season: win games.