Monday Transaction Recap: Harris and Widener are the first cuts
Hayden Harris and Taylor Widener quickly get moved out of the major league camp
Welcome to the return of Monday Transaction Recap. This is where all the week's moves by the Braves get analyzed - usually days after everyone else has had their say. Though I also try to provide deeper thoughts on moves no one is talking about (and usually for a good reason).
Today, we'll test the waters with a quick recap as the Braves have yet to have a major cutdown day. That'll probably happen after this recap because, ya know, that's just how it goes.
Today's recap reviews moves that occurred between February 26 and March 3.
Atlanta
2/29 - LHP Hayden Harris and RHP Taylor Widener were reassigned to the minor league camp.
Harris and Widener are your trivia answers to the question that no one will ever ask: what two players were the first cuts of the '24 spring training by the Braves? Seriously, if someone does ask this question, they hate you and your trivia night.
I was nowhere near either player in my Preview series so I'll give both a brief look - just like the Braves did.
The lefty, Harris, was undrafted out of Georgia Southern. He played parts of five seasons - mostly as a reliever - for the Eagles with inconsistent results. He struck out a ton of batters, but command was a problem for Harris. The 84 walks in 144.1 innings were bad, but he also hit 22 batters and uncorked 15 wild pitches. But the Braves saw beyond that, inking Harris to his first professional contract at the end of July 2022. He got his feet wet with a half-dozen games in the Florida Coast League but had a mini-breakout last season. He played for three different clubs, including appearing in 23 games for Mississippi, with a jaw-dropping 91 K's in 59.1 innings. On an even bigger note was that after a 5.2 career walk rate per nine innings in college, Harris lowered that to 3.6 BB/9 last year. Despite a loaded left-hand complement of relievers, the Braves rewarded Harris with a spring training invitation.
He'll likely head to Gwinnett now, which was always the game plan. He pairs a low-90s fastball with a really good slider. The heater is deceptive, displays decent spin, and jumps on hitters - especially if they underestimate it due to its less-than-impressive velocity. The slider is a wipe-out pitch to lefties, though the jury is still out on whether it'll play well enough to consistently sit down right-handed hitters. He'll probably need to develop his changeup to be less vulnerable against the righties.
Harris could be a diamond in the rough. He probably won't be the high-leverage guy, but there's enough here to predict a major league success should development continue.
Widener, on the other hand, has already logged just over a hundred innings in the majors. All of those innings came with the Diamondbacks between 2020-22. Originally a Yankees draft pick, Widener even ranked #83 on MLB.com's Top 100 before the 2019 season.
After a 4.26 ERA with the D'Backs, Widener was released and spent last year in Korea. He logged time with a pair of teams, striking out 99 in 115 innings with a 4.54 ERA. Now ticketed for a return to Gwinnett, Widener will look to improve on his 7.26 ERA over 141.1 innings at the minor league's highest level.
Widener lives off a 93-94 mph four-seamer that he complements with a pair of 84-85 mph offerings in a changeup and slider. None have really stood out, which won't surprise anyone considering he spent last year in Korea and only settled on a minor-league deal to return to America. He does have good extension coming off the mound, though.
And that's it. The Braves will likely make more moves soon as they are still at 58 players on camp. Maybe I'll have more players to talk about next Monday.