<img alt="MLB: Atlanta Braves at Milwaukee Brewers" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/vRnvHwZaS9_mMWlUDgQROU5tEz4=/0x0:3858x2572/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73496671/usa_today_23875773.0.jpg">
Michael McLoone-USA TODAY Sports
Jorge Soler is back. Luke Jackson is back. Adam Duvall, Eddie Rosario and Jesse Chavez also returned earlier this season. The vibes are good and nostalgic but will it turn into something special again? The trade deadline has come and gone and while it may have been a bit of a dud in terms of excitement (both for the Atlanta Braves and across the league in terms of general), I'm going to just straight-up say that I don't think you're going to hear too many Braves fans complaining about how things went. Well, I'm sure you're going to hear some complaining elsewhere online but what is the internet except for a place to complain online? Either way, the Braves had an "okay" deadline and they also ended up acquiring a pretty cool theme song as well!
I'd like to imagine that Jorge Soler and Luke Jackson probably received similarly warm reactions in the clubhouse like Eddie Rosario, Adam Duvall and Jesse Chavez hopefully received once each of those heroes from 2021 made their return to the Braves clubhouse. They're also heading into a four-game series against an incredibly diminished Miami Marlins team after picking up a series win in Milwaukee against the Brewers. I'm going to get into what these additions could mean for the Braves going forward but one thing is clear: The vibes are actually somewhat positive again!
Anyways, I'd be willing to venture this isn't the type of deadline deal that's going to be transformative like what Alex Anthopoulos pulled off back in that glorious 2021 campaign. With that being said, Atlanta's offense desperately needed a spark and Jorge Soler should provide that. Relatively recent nostalgia aside, Soler is going to boost this offense for sure. Before being traded, Soler hit .240/.330/.419 with a .328 wOBA, 12 home runs and 115 wRC+. I can understand looking at that slash line and thinking "Well, that's just okay. Nothing spectacular but just fine.”
While "fine" is alright, I think everybody's eyes always get wide and full of dreams and aspirations when it comes to what type of deals they can pull off at the deadline. The truth of the matter is that this was a seller's market and not even a particularly good one at that since no Top 100 prospects (at least according to Baseball America) were dealt at the deadline. Teams had to take whatever they could get and I'd say the Braves did pretty well getting Soler for Sabin Ceballos and another 2021 hero, Tyler Matzek.
In fact, "fine” may be exactly what the Braves need because as we've all seen, this offense has been incredibly frustrating to watch this season. Jorge Soler's "totally fine" wRC+ of 115 would place him tied for third on the Braves this season with Austin Riley and behind Travis d'Arnaud and Marcell Ozuna. He also put up that level of production while playing his home games in the cavern by the Bay that is AT&T Park, so it's safe to say that if all goes well then he should see an uptick moving from the 26th-best Park Factor in baseball (97) to Truist Park and its 8th-best Park Factor (101). Again, this won't be an earth-shattering move for the Braves in terms of Soler's individual impact but this should still have a positive ripple effect on how the rest of the team performs. The double in the following video would be a home run in Cobb County, so here's a tiny proof of concept.
It'll also help for this lineup in particular. While Jarred Kelenic has been putting in an admirable effort to be the leadoff man for the Braves ever since Ronald Acuña Jr. went on the shelf, it's clear that this was no real long-term solution in terms of both playing time and lineup role as well. Jorge Soler may not be a burner on the basepaths by any means but if you're going to have someone getting the most ABs on the team, you'd prefer if it's the guy who has a .326 wOBA and a .338 xwOBA over the .302 wOBA and the .311 xwOBA htat Kelenic was putting up for this season.
If anything, while the Braves were certainly in need of some help, what they really need the most is for their heavy hitters to either return from injury or return to form. This lineup desperately needs Matt Olson to heat up and the good news is that appears to be happening — he's at 99 wRC+ for the season after going back-to-back twice with his pal Travis d'Arnaud and while it was a near-certainty that Olson wouldn't continue to scuffle like he had for most of this season, it's still such a beautiful sight for sore eyes to see him crushing the ball again and if it continues then the Braves should be in good shape going forward. If Michael Harris II and Ozzie Albies can both hit the ground running upon returning from injury and Sean Murphy can find his swing again then suddenly this starts looking like the good ol’ Braves lineup that we're all used to seeing.
So yeah, while trading for Jorge Soler may have been a very funny continuation of Atlanta's unofficial policy of Getting The Band Back Together, it's a move that definitely makes sense for this team at the moment and they're a better team with him than they were without him. The only real question mark with this deal is whether or not Luke Jackson can bring something real to the table when it comes to the bullpen.
The Friendly Neighborhood Slider-Man had his fair share of ups (46 ERA- and 87 FIP- in 2021) and downs (150 ERA- and 100 FIP- in 2020) while he was here in Atlanta and things were pretty similar for him in San Francisco. Jackson pitched perfectly fine for the Giants last season (71 ERA- and 79 FIP-. That'll do!) before falling into a crater this season where his ERA- and FIP- have both ballooned to 137 and 116, respectively. That is very scary to see since we all know that when Luke's bad, you usually have to watch the game between the gaps in your fingers.
The thing that we have to lean on (and what Alex Anthopoulos himself is leaning on) is that Luke Jackson's slider has been looking very good recently. If you don't believe me or what the head honcho here in Atlanta has to say then let's hear it from an SB Nation legend, himself:
Luke Jackson looked nasty in his last three outings. He might have his slider back. But a guaranteed spot for Spencer Bivens is probably more important.— Grant Brisbee (@GrantBrisbee) July 30, 2024
Two out of his last three outings came against the Dodgers and he racked up five strikeouts across those two appearances. He's looked nasty at times even during this rough season — including this two-inning appearance against the Phillies which was probably his nastiest outing of the season.
There's still something here and he should both be happy to return to a familiar place with relatively low-pressure. I'm not going to guarantee that he's going to be getting strictly low-leverage innings since Brian Snitker is still the manager of the Atlanta Braves and we all know his tendencies with the bullpen in the regular season but if things are ideal then the change of scenery may be just the trick to get Luke Jackson's season back on track.
So while the Braves may not have made the major splash that a lot of fans would've preferred, they still made themselves better with these deals and the guys who were here before also seem to be on the path towards getting right as well. They'll still have plenty of work to do in order to cement their place in the Postseason but I'm still feeling positive about what this team could do in playoffs once October rolls around. The pitching has been there all season and they'll have a familiar face helping them out down the stretch. The lineup is showing signs of life that could actually be sustained this time around. This may not have been a splashy deadline for the Braves but it could end up being one that pays off for them in the grand scheme of things.
<img alt="MLB: Atlanta Braves at Milwaukee Brewers" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/vRnvHwZaS9_mMWlUDgQROU5tEz4=/0x0:3858x2572/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73496671/usa_today_23875773.0.jpg">
Michael McLoone-USA TODAY Sports
Jorge Soler is back. Luke Jackson is back. Adam Duvall, Eddie Rosario and Jesse Chavez also returned earlier this season. The vibes are good and nostalgic but will it turn into something special again? The trade deadline has come and gone and while it may have been a bit of a dud in terms of excitement (both for the Atlanta Braves and across the league in terms of general), I'm going to just straight-up say that I don't think you're going to hear too many Braves fans complaining about how things went. Well, I'm sure you're going to hear some complaining elsewhere online but what is the internet except for a place to complain online? Either way, the Braves had an "okay" deadline and they also ended up acquiring a pretty cool theme song as well!
I'd like to imagine that Jorge Soler and Luke Jackson probably received similarly warm reactions in the clubhouse like Eddie Rosario, Adam Duvall and Jesse Chavez hopefully received once each of those heroes from 2021 made their return to the Braves clubhouse. They're also heading into a four-game series against an incredibly diminished Miami Marlins team after picking up a series win in Milwaukee against the Brewers. I'm going to get into what these additions could mean for the Braves going forward but one thing is clear: The vibes are actually somewhat positive again!
Anyways, I'd be willing to venture this isn't the type of deadline deal that's going to be transformative like what Alex Anthopoulos pulled off back in that glorious 2021 campaign. With that being said, Atlanta's offense desperately needed a spark and Jorge Soler should provide that. Relatively recent nostalgia aside, Soler is going to boost this offense for sure. Before being traded, Soler hit .240/.330/.419 with a .328 wOBA, 12 home runs and 115 wRC+. I can understand looking at that slash line and thinking "Well, that's just okay. Nothing spectacular but just fine.”
While "fine" is alright, I think everybody's eyes always get wide and full of dreams and aspirations when it comes to what type of deals they can pull off at the deadline. The truth of the matter is that this was a seller's market and not even a particularly good one at that since no Top 100 prospects (at least according to Baseball America) were dealt at the deadline. Teams had to take whatever they could get and I'd say the Braves did pretty well getting Soler for Sabin Ceballos and another 2021 hero, Tyler Matzek.
In fact, "fine” may be exactly what the Braves need because as we've all seen, this offense has been incredibly frustrating to watch this season. Jorge Soler's "totally fine" wRC+ of 115 would place him tied for third on the Braves this season with Austin Riley and behind Travis d'Arnaud and Marcell Ozuna. He also put up that level of production while playing his home games in the cavern by the Bay that is AT&T Park, so it's safe to say that if all goes well then he should see an uptick moving from the 26th-best Park Factor in baseball (97) to Truist Park and its 8th-best Park Factor (101). Again, this won't be an earth-shattering move for the Braves in terms of Soler's individual impact but this should still have a positive ripple effect on how the rest of the team performs. The double in the following video would be a home run in Cobb County, so here's a tiny proof of concept.
It'll also help for this lineup in particular. While Jarred Kelenic has been putting in an admirable effort to be the leadoff man for the Braves ever since Ronald Acuña Jr. went on the shelf, it's clear that this was no real long-term solution in terms of both playing time and lineup role as well. Jorge Soler may not be a burner on the basepaths by any means but if you're going to have someone getting the most ABs on the team, you'd prefer if it's the guy who has a .326 wOBA and a .338 xwOBA over the .302 wOBA and the .311 xwOBA htat Kelenic was putting up for this season.
If anything, while the Braves were certainly in need of some help, what they really need the most is for their heavy hitters to either return from injury or return to form. This lineup desperately needs Matt Olson to heat up and the good news is that appears to be happening — he's at 99 wRC+ for the season after going back-to-back twice with his pal Travis d'Arnaud and while it was a near-certainty that Olson wouldn't continue to scuffle like he had for most of this season, it's still such a beautiful sight for sore eyes to see him crushing the ball again and if it continues then the Braves should be in good shape going forward. If Michael Harris II and Ozzie Albies can both hit the ground running upon returning from injury and Sean Murphy can find his swing again then suddenly this starts looking like the good ol’ Braves lineup that we're all used to seeing.
So yeah, while trading for Jorge Soler may have been a very funny continuation of Atlanta's unofficial policy of Getting The Band Back Together, it's a move that definitely makes sense for this team at the moment and they're a better team with him than they were without him. The only real question mark with this deal is whether or not Luke Jackson can bring something real to the table when it comes to the bullpen.
The Friendly Neighborhood Slider-Man had his fair share of ups (46 ERA- and 87 FIP- in 2021) and downs (150 ERA- and 100 FIP- in 2020) while he was here in Atlanta and things were pretty similar for him in San Francisco. Jackson pitched perfectly fine for the Giants last season (71 ERA- and 79 FIP-. That'll do!) before falling into a crater this season where his ERA- and FIP- have both ballooned to 137 and 116, respectively. That is very scary to see since we all know that when Luke's bad, you usually have to watch the game between the gaps in your fingers.
The thing that we have to lean on (and what Alex Anthopoulos himself is leaning on) is that Luke Jackson's slider has been looking very good recently. If you don't believe me or what the head honcho here in Atlanta has to say then let's hear it from an SB Nation legend, himself:
Luke Jackson looked nasty in his last three outings. He might have his slider back. But a guaranteed spot for Spencer Bivens is probably more important.— Grant Brisbee (@GrantBrisbee) July 30, 2024
Two out of his last three outings came against the Dodgers and he racked up five strikeouts across those two appearances. He's looked nasty at times even during this rough season — including this two-inning appearance against the Phillies which was probably his nastiest outing of the season.
There's still something here and he should both be happy to return to a familiar place with relatively low-pressure. I'm not going to guarantee that he's going to be getting strictly low-leverage innings since Brian Snitker is still the manager of the Atlanta Braves and we all know his tendencies with the bullpen in the regular season but if things are ideal then the change of scenery may be just the trick to get Luke Jackson's season back on track.
So while the Braves may not have made the major splash that a lot of fans would've preferred, they still made themselves better with these deals and the guys who were here before also seem to be on the path towards getting right as well. They'll still have plenty of work to do in order to cement their place in the Postseason but I'm still feeling positive about what this team could do in playoffs once October rolls around. The pitching has been there all season and they'll have a familiar face helping them out down the stretch. The lineup is showing signs of life that could actually be sustained this time around. This may not have been a splashy deadline for the Braves but it could end up being one that pays off for them in the grand scheme of things.
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