MILWAUKEE — On Tuesday, Jorge Soler and Luke Jackson traveled together – and for a lot longer than they expected. Their flight out of San Francisco was delayed twice and ended up departing around six hours after it was expected to take off. They went to Starbird Chicken at San Francisco International Airport – twice. And after they landed in Chicago, a chauffeur drove them to Milwaukee.
“We spent a long time together,” Jackson said.
“I’ve never been so close to him,” Soler said of Jackson, through interpreter Franco García. “I’ve never spent so much time with him.”
On Wednesday, the Braves added both players to the 26-man roster following Monday’s trade with the Giants. The Braves optioned infielder Nacho Alvarez Jr. and right-hander Bryce Elder to create room on the roster. Alvarez had been playing second base, and Elder started Tuesday’s game.
In the Braves’ win over the Brewers on Wednesday, Soler hit leadoff and played right field. He wore No. 2. He went 0-for-3 with a strikeout and a walk, but the walk was important: It came with two outs in the seventh inning, and it set up Austin Riley to drive in the go-ahead runs with a single.
Braves manager Brian Snitker replaced Soler in the field before the bottom of the eighth inning. The Braves are going to be cautious about Soler’s workload because he hasn’t played in the outfield all year.
Here’s a bit of what Jackson and Soler said before the game about returning to the Braves:
Jackson: ‘This is home’
On Sunday, Jackson didn’t pitch in a game in which usually he would’ve appeared. His antenna went up then. He walked into the clubhouse after and asked someone about it, and that person told him he might be dealt by Tuesday’s deadline. He texted his agent, but his agent hadn’t heard anything.
“And then, next thing you know, my wife’s like, packing the house up,” Jackson said. “She’s like, ‘I think you’re getting traded.’”
Jackson knew it didn’t work that way. He’s seen guys who seemed like trade candidates stay on their respective teams.
But on Monday, he was having dinner with his wife when Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi called him.
“You’re going back to Atlanta,” Zaidi told Jackson.
“No way,” Jackson said.
Jackson thought Zaidi was joking. Actually.
“I kind of make a lot of jokes these days, and now I think everyone’s just joking with me,” he said.
But this was real. It had happened.
Jackson was back with the Braves.
“Weirdly, I was kind of told at the time, ‘You’re probably gonna be (in) New York or (on the) East Coast,’” Jackson said. “I was like, ‘Well, you know, East Coast is closer to home.’ Never thought in a million years it’d be Atlanta, honestly. You know how you always hope for something – like, ‘Yeah, that’d be cool, that be awesome to go back and play with the guys’ – but you just never want to get that set in your head because then you get too excited about it.”
Jackson lives in Atlanta. He loved his first stint with the Braves, which went from 2017-22.
“This is home for me,” Jackson said.
The first guy who called Jackson after the trade? Tyler Matzek, who went to San Francisco in the deal. He called, Jackson said, to yell at Jackson for a bit.
Jackson returns at a time when the Braves are trying to gain momentum.
“I kind of got in and I was kind of catching the vibes from everyone,” Jackson said. “When you get a culture of winning, winning is just in your blood – whether you get banged up or hurt, or you got guys coming back. I think (Braves president of baseball operations) Alex (Anthopoulos) just curated an unbelievable group of guys that winning is natural here, and that’s what they do in this clubhouse.”
Soler: ‘Oh man, I just got traded!’
On an off-day Monday, Soler was playing PlayStation when he received a video call from Giants manager Bob Melvin. The skipper informed Soler that he’d been traded to the Braves.
When they hung up, Soler continued playing.
“And it kind of hit me as I was playing,” Soler said. “I was like, ‘Oh man, I just got traded!’”
Three years ago, Soler was traded to the Braves and helped the team win a World Series. He said he’s seen his iconic World Series Game 6 home run tons of times and is beginning to see it a lot again since the trade.
After that season, he signed with Miami. Then he inked a deal with San Francisco before this season.
Did he ever think he’d return to Atlanta?
“I did think that one day I would probably come back,” Soler said, “but not as soon as I’m back.”
Before the trade, Soler had hit .280 with an .860 OPS since June 1. He said he saw more pitches and didn’t swing at pitches outside of the zone as often.
This might be a better situation for Soler. He’ll still bat leadoff, but he’ll be playing at Truist Park, which is a more hitter-friendly venue than San Francisco’s Oracle Park. It can be cold there, and the dimensions are difficult for hitters.
“He’s a monster, as he’s always been,” Jackson said. “He’s an on-base machine. Had him in the leadoff spot in San Francisco, and he was absolutely dominating it. I’m excited to see him back in Atlanta’s park. I mean, San Francisco, as you know, can beat a lot of hitters down. It’s kind of a graveyard out there, and super windy and cold, and just kind of a tough place to play day in and day out.”
Soler will try to make an immediate difference for the Braves’ lineup.
“I feel like the team’s in a good spot,” Soler said. “And I’m just here, really, to give my best effort every time I take the field, and just do anything that I can to help the team win.”
