ATLANTA -- Choosing to carry just 11 pitchers, the Braves opted to bring both Rowdy Tellez and Luke Williams up from Triple-A to be part of their Wild Card Series roster.
“In a three-game series, you're just not going to use as many arms,” manager Walt Weiss said. “Typically, you go to your high-leverage guys during this series. You don't necessarily need the inning-eaters and those types of guys that you would typically have in the bullpen. We have some guys that go multiple innings anyway. The fact it's a three-game series, we went heavy on the position-player side, and most teams do.”
Setup man Robert Suarez is one of the 11 pitchers the Braves will carry into this best-of-three series that began Tuesday with the Braves' 5-3 victory.
Suarez missed most of the past three months with a right elbow issue. But he impressed enough in two appearances last week to be included.
The speedy DaShawn Keirsey and backup outfielder Brewer Hicklen were both placed on the WC roster. As was Dominic Smith, who garnered just 12 at-bats since Aug. 22. But potential emergency catcher Kyle Farmer wasn’t.
Tellez will be a left-handed pinch-hitting option, and Williams will provide the Braves with an extra backup infielder.
“Rowdy is a big, hairy left-handed hitter over there,” Weiss said. “We got a glimpse of him during the season, and he hit a pinch-hit homer for us. Keirsey as a baserunner did a great job. He’s been impactful [as a pinch-runner]. Virtually every time I pinch-ran with him, he scored a big run.”
Braves 26-man WC Series roster
PITCHERS (11): LHP Dylan Dodd, RHP Didier Fuentes, RHP Grant Holmes, RHP Raisel Iglesias, LHP Ray Kerr, LHP Dylan Lee, RHP Tyler Mahle, RHP Victor Mederos, LHP Chris Sale, RHP Robert Suarez, LHP Brent Suter
CATCHERS (2): Drake Baldwin, Sean Murphy
INFIELDERS (8): Ozzie Albies, Mauricio Dubón, Ha-Seong Kim, Matt Olson, Austin Riley, Dominic Smith, Rowdy Tellez, Luke Williams
OUTFIELDERS (5): Ronald Acuña Jr., Michael Harris II, Brewer Hicklen, DaShawn Keirsey Jr., Mike Yastrzemski