There's a movie in theaters right now called "The Purge: Anarchy," and while there does appear to be a bit of order, there's definitely a bit of a purge going on. Just one day after bench hanger-on Dan Uggla was released, the Braves have now demoted their worst reliever in the bullpen, Luis Avilan.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Luis Avilan will be optioned to Triple-A Gwinnett today.LHP Chasen Shreave has been promoted from Mississippi to Atlanta.</p>— Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) <a href="https://twitter.com/mlbbowman/statuses/490549852401438720">July 19, 2014</a></blockquote>
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Avilan had a decent year last season, but this year? Not so much. At the time of his demotion, Avilan had an ERA of 4.85, a FIP of 4.32, and an xFIP of 4.43. All of those numbers are flat-out bad, and it's even worse considering that he played an important role as the only left-handed reliever in the pen. If that's the production you're getting from your only lefty in the pen, then you have to explore all options available and it appears that the Braves have chosen to take action with one of their options.
Avilan's replacement will now take on the role of "only lefty reliever in the pen," as Chasen Shreve has been called up by the Braves from AA Mississippi. Over 36 appearances this season, Shreve's ERA has been 2.48 and his FIP has been 1.43. Although it's wishful thinking to believe that Shreve will bring those numbers with him to Atlanta, hopefully Shreve will just be decent coming out of the pen and won't put the Braves in situations where a comfortable lead becomes not-so-comfortable after loading up the bases and getting nobody out (which is what Avilan did in his latest outing).
That performance on Sunday appeared to be the straw that broke the camel's back for Frank Wren, and depending on where you stand on the news that Peter Gammons broke earlier this morning, it's clear that the Braves are trying to get some dead weight off of the team as they make a run at another Divisional title, or at least a playoff spot.