The Atlanta Braves designated right-hander Ricky Vanasco for assignment on Tuesday, a late roster cut as the club locked in its 26-man group for the National League Wild Card round, via the MLB transaction log.
The move was about space, not a playoff surprise. Vanasco never appeared in a regular-season game for Atlanta after the Braves claimed him off waivers from the Detroit Tigers on Aug. 26 and optioned him to Triple-A Gwinnett.
He occupied a 40-man roster spot that the front office needed as it added non-roster infielders Rowdy Tellez and Luke Williams, both eligible for the postseason because they were in the organization before Sept. 1.
Fellow right-hander Elieser Hernández also came off the 40-man in the same wave of housekeeping.
Vanasco, 27, has spent most of his professional life as depth rather than a finished product. A 15th-round pick out of Florida in 2017, he debuted with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2024 and later bounced through Detroit.
In the majors, he is 1-1 with a 12.19 ERA in 10 1/3 innings over nine appearances.
His 2026 big-league sample with the Tigers was especially rough: 0-1 with a 15.63 ERA, 14 hits, two homers, six walks and four strikeouts in 6 1/3 innings. Command, not velocity, was the problem.
His four-seamer still sat in the mid-90s in Triple-A.
That minor-league work is why Atlanta took the flier. With Toledo he posted a 2.53 ERA in 46 1/3 innings, striking out more than 30 percent of hitters and generating ground balls at a healthy clip.
The Braves treated him as insurance while navigating injuries to arms such as Hurston Waldrep, Martín Pérez and others down the stretch. He never forced his way onto the active roster in September.
Atlanta will carry 11 pitchers into the Wild Card series, a group built around Chris Sale, Raisel Iglesias, Robert Suarez, Dylan Lee and a mix of starters and swingmen.
Vanasco was never a realistic October option. Designating him simply lets the club protect extra bats for a short series and keep the 40-man flexible if another team claims him.
For Vanasco, it is another turn on the waiver carousel. He can be claimed, outrighted or released in the coming days. For the Braves, it is the last piece of roster math before the games that matter.
Depth got them through a long season. Now the roster is built for October, not for another Triple-A call-up.
