One of baseball’s youngest teams got a little older Wednesday after the Braves traded for 35-year-old reliever Luis Ayala from the Baltimore Orioles.
The well-traveled right-hander had a 2.40 ERA in 118 appearances over the 2011-12 seasons with the Yankees and Orioles. The Braves got him in exchange for minor league reliever Chris Jones, a left-hander.
“You look to add pieces that can give you more depth in your bullpen,” Braves general manager Frank Wren said. “This is one of those pieces. In watching him this spring, we thought he could help us.”
Wren said the Braves and Orioles began discussing Ayala in the final week of spring training. Baltimore had an injury to another pitcher and wanted to wait to see how that progressed before moving Ayala, a sinker/slider pitcher who relies more on movement than velocity, topping out in the upper-80 mph range with his fastball.
Braves setup man Jonny Venters sprained his elbow in the last week of spring training, and the left-hander is going to be out until at least late May. Wren said the Braves didn’t make the trade in response to that injury.
They will have to make another roster move before Ayala joins the team for Friday’s series opener at Washington, and Wren wouldn’t elaborate on who might be moved. Relievers Cristhian Martinez and Anthony Varvaro are possibilities. Both are out of minor-league options and could be claimed by any team if the Braves tried to send either to the minors, so a trade might be more likely.
Ayala can pitch in any relief role, from getting an out or two to working multiple innings.
Ayala has pitched in two games this season: After giving up two runs, two hits, a homer and two walks while recording only one out against Tampa Bay in his first appearance April 3, he pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings (two hits, no walks) on Friday against Minnesota and got a win.
Ayala has a 3.37 ERA in 497 career appearances, all in relief. He also pitched for Montreal, Washington, Baltimore, Minnesota, Florida and the Mets.
He missed the 2010 season recovering from Tommy John elbow surgery and had two good seasons since, including a career-best 2.09 ERA in 52 appearances with the Yankees in 2011, albeit with 39 strikeouts and 20 walks in 56 innings.
Jones came to the Braves from the Indians in the trade for Derek Lowe after the 2011 season. The lefty had a 3.90 ERA in 45 relief appearances for Double-A Mississippi last season, with 61 strikeouts and 19 walks in 60 innings.
Slumping Upton out of lineup: While his brother Justin Upton was hitting .400 and leading the league in home runs (six) and slugging percentage (1.100), B.J. Upton barely hit .100 through his first eight games and was out of the lineup Wednesday.
The one-game respite for the elder Upton was ostensibly done to give Jordan Schafer his first start this season. Schafer played center field and singled in the second inning Wednesday in his second plate appearance.
B.J. Upton, who was 3-for-29 (.103) with one homer and one RBI, said he felt good at the plate and was not stressed out about the slow start. It was his first time out of the lineup, and he’ll have consecutive days off because the Braves are off Thursday before a weekend series against the Nationals in Washington.
“It’s just not happening right now, but that’s the beauty of a 162-game season,” Upton said. “We’re nine games in. There’s too much baseball left to be played to really read into it. I’m seeing the ball well. Pitch selection’s a little off for me right now. I’ll say inconsistent. But it’s getting better, and I feel good up there. That’s all that matters.”
He was out of the lineup a day after right fielder Jason Heyward — batting .083 with one homer before Wednesday — got his first day off. Reed Johnson got his first start Tuesday in right field. Justin Upton has played every game in left field.
“These guys (Johnson and Schafer) haven’t been really getting (at-bats),” B.J. Upton said. “I think the idea is to keep them fresh, keep us fresh. … Getting two days is not bad at all. That’ll be good.”
