Alexi Ogando designated for assignment

After a short sting with the Atlanta Braves, Alexi Ogando appears to be on his way out and has been designated for assignment. In his stead, the Braves have called up young fireballer Mauricio Cabrera.

Coming off of a terrible season with the Boston Red Sox, Ogando was signed to a team-friendly one-year, $2 million deal this offseason by the Braves. Early on, the signing appeared to be a good deal for the Braves. Prior to June, the 32-year old was posting a 21.7 percent strikeout rate with a 2.82 ERA and 3.63 FIP.

Since then however, his strikeout rate has dipped more than six percentage points, his walk rate has skyrocketed to 21.7 percent and he’s pitching 54 percent worse than the league average according to FIP-.

While the news of his designation for assignment doesn’t necessarily preclude Ogando’s release, it certainly appears that the Braves are headed in another direction. And that direction is the right-handed Cabrera.

Cabrera—who throws a fastball in the triple digits—won’t turn 23 years old until September. He is getting called up straight from Double-A Mississippi, which seems to be a decisive vote of confidence in his abilities from the organization.

In his 33.2 innings of work this season at Double-A, Cabrera has allowed 15 runs—12 earned—on 20 hits and 22 walks while striking out 35. While Cabrera’s walk rate seems troublesome, he appears to have significant swing-and-miss stuff.

The Braves are frequently headlining the rumor mill, most recently with their closer Arodys Vizcaino. If Cabrera performs well, perhaps Vizcaino’s name will continue to come up more and more in rumors, though that discussion is mere conjecture at this time.