Potential candidates for Braves’ expanded roster

This story was excerpted from Mark Bowman’s Braves Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

PHILADELPHIA — One of my favorite recent rule changes was MLB’s decision to erase the opportunity for teams to overload their rosters during the season’s final and most influential month. It didn’t necessarily bother me that one team chose to expand its roster to 35 players and another chose to stick with 28.

The rule was you could carry up to 40 players once September arrived. Teams could choose to do whatever they wanted.

What bothered me was, by adding a handful of players, the game was different than the one played from Opening Day through the end of August. Having four extra relievers and four extra pinch-hitters completely altered the strategy that had been used for the first 80 percent of the season.

Now, teams can add one position player and one pitcher while expanding the roster from 26 players to 28 players in September. Yeah, it provides advantages that wouldn’t have existed during the regular season’s first five months. But this arrangement helps protect arms, which is the best argument for having expanded rosters of any size.

Braves manager Brian Snitker said the plan is to add a pitcher and a position player when rosters expand on Sunday. Different players could fill these two spots throughout September. Here is a look at some of the options.

Relief pitchers
Daysbel Hernandez and Jimmy Herget are the most likely relievers to fill that extra pitching spot. Both have options. So both could spend some of the final month in Atlanta’s bullpen.

Luke Jackson worked a scoreless inning in Wednesday’s 5-1 win over the Twins. But Jackson has surrendered an .857 OPS in the nine appearances he has made since being acquired from the Giants. Snitker’s decision to use Jackson with the game tied in the seventh inning of Sunday’s 5-1 loss to the Nationals highlighted the need to add another option to the bullpen mix.

Jesse Chavez seemed to be a better option in that situation. But he has also struggled recently. Opponents have produced a .998 OPS during his six appearances in August.

Starting pitchers
The Braves have been on a tear since welcoming Reynaldo López back from the injured list and deciding to end their practice of creating an extra day of rest for their primary starters. Should they just ride these five starters the rest of the way? Or should they create an extra day of rest by giving Ian Anderson, A.J. Smith-Shawver or Bryce Elder a spot start?

It might depend on where they stand in the postseason races. They are six games behind the Phillies in the National League East after winning the opener of a four-game set, 3-2, on Thursday night. Maybe more importantly, they are three games in front of the Mets in the battle for the final NL Wild Card spot.

Having gained some cushion in the latter race, it might make sense to create an extra day of rest for the starters. Even if this option isn’t utilized in early September, adding a starter near the end of the month could create rest or even just help set the rotation for the Wild Card Series or Division Series.

Anderson: The 26-year-old veteran, who is making his way back from Tommy John surgery, has posted a 4.84 ERA over seven starts for Triple-A Gwinnett. He posted a 2.70 ERA and limited opponents to a .202 batting average over four starts from Aug. 1-22. But he issued four walks, surrendered eight hits and allowed five earned runs with five strikeouts over four innings against Columbus on Tuesday night.

Smith-Shawver: The promising prospect threw six scoreless innings against Louisville on Aug. 21. That was the first time he completed at least five innings since straining his left oblique and put on the injured list on May 24. But Smith-Shawver then allowed five runs on seven hits in 5 2/3 innings against Columbus on Tuesday.

Elder: He has allowed three earned runs or less over at least five innings in six of 10 starts for Atlanta this year.

Position player
Eli White seems to be the most likely addition on Sunday. White provides another center field option and a right-handed bat off the bench. Nacho Alvarez is already on the 40-man roster, but his short big league stint indicated he’s not quite ready for the Majors. The Braves aren’t currently planning to fill the spot with a third catcher.