Braves Designate Danny Young For Assignment, Select Ray Kerr

The Braves are selecting left-hander Ray Kerr to the 40-man roster, according to Chad Bishop of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. In a corresponding move, fellow southpaw Danny Young is being designated for assignment. The team’s 40-man roster continues to have an open spot after this move. Young underwent reconstructive elbow surgery last year and continued to rehab after signing a split deal with Atlanta for the 2026 season. He did well in a handful of rehab appearances at the end of June, and the Braves activated him off the 60-day injured list on July 3rd, slotting Young into their bullpen. On the surface, he was effective throughout the month of July, as he posted a 2.08 ERA in 8 2/3 innings across 12 appearances while inducing plenty of ground balls. There were troubling signs under the surface. Young struck out eight hitters in July but allowed an equal number of walks. He also gave up plenty of hard contact and stranded an unsustainably high 95.6% of opposing baserunners. Regression came when the calendar flipped to August. In four appearances this month, Young has surrendered nine earned runs on nine hits in just 3 2/3 innings. That includes an inning of mop-up duty in yesterday’s 10-3 loss to the Diamondbacks, in which Young allowed three earned runs. It’s a disappointing turn of events for Young, who hasn’t thrown a meaningful number of big league innings since his 2024 campaign with the Mets. In that year, he posted a 4.54 ERA in 37 2/3 innings out of the bullpen, striking out an impressive 29.1% of opponents while walking them at a worse-than-average 10.9% clip. Young was generating grounders 53.3% of the time, which was well above average. Other metrics like his 3.64 FIP and 3.22 SIERA suggested he was more effective than the 4.54 ERA. The shoulder injury has simply prevented him from proving it lately. Dating back to 2025, Young has thrown just 20 2/3 innings between the Mets and Braves. Young has under two years of service time, but the Braves outrighted him in 2022 during his previous tenure with the team. As such, he has the right to reject another outright assignment in favor of electing free agency, assuming he clears waivers. His split deal with the Braves called for a $925K salary for any time in the Majors. If another team is interested in Young as a lefty depth option, they could wait for him to elect free agency, then sign him for the prorated league minimum to save a little money. More to come. View Comments (1)