3 Braves second half call-ups who can serve as trade additions of their own

The Atlanta Braves needed the trade market as much as any team in the entire league. For a while, they fell behind a bit in the NL Wild Card race with the New York Mets passing them up. They've recently gotten back on track though.

They had some serious holes in their roster, mainly due to injuries, but they took to the market to acquire a few important pieces. Still, they have a few key holes in their roster, mainly in depth and in their starting rotation. They will need to look to their own farm system to upgrade here at this point.

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3. Luis De Avila, LHP, Double-A

The first player on this list is the least likely to see time in the big leagues and it would take quite the perfect circumstances to see him make his debut. The player that I'm talking about is a left-handed starter for the Braves' Double-A affiliate, Luis De Avila. Let's look at the ways in which he could be brought up.

De Avila has thrown well at the Double-A level and he's a lefty, two big plus signs for the Braves. The 23-year-old is developed in his maturity and pitch arsenal. Atlanta already has a depleted pitching rotation which adds to the chances that he could be brought up.

The most likely scenario that he makes his debut is out of the bullpen though. The Braves' bullpen has been solid, but as rosters expand to 40-man rosters and relievers become more valuable as teams push for the postseason, Atlanta could use more left-handed depth. De Avila has been the best left-handed arm in the Braves top 30 prospects.

It's an outside chance that he comes up, but if he does, he could be the left-handed reliever that Atlanta thought about adding at the trade deadline.

2. Nacho Alvarez Jr., SS, Triple-A

Here is one of the more obvious picks for the Braves to bring up. The only argument against Alvarez is the fact that he was up in the big leagues and struggled quite a bit. In his first stint, Alvarez went 3-for-30 with one run scored and 10 strikeouts. He didn't really look like he belonged, but if he can find his confidence and swing in Triple-A again, he would be a perfect fit back on the big league roster.

The Braves need infield depth, and they need it rather badly. Ozzie Albies has missed time with injuries and Orlando Arcia has struggled in general. Alvarez hasn't been great in the big leagues but he dominated at the Triple-A level and if he can come to the Braves with true confidence, he could turn his season back around at the big league level.

Atlanta was looking at the infielder market for the better part of trade season. They were looking at any and all options to fill holes around their injured roster with potential options of Bo Bichette and Paul DeJong among others. The best option to fit their roster is Alvarez. Alvarez is likely the Braves shortstop of the future as well.

1. AJ Smith-Shawver, RHP, Triple-A

The biggest hole on the Braves roster is and always has been in their starting rotation. They haven't had a fifth starter for the entire season, and they recently faced injury scares with Max Fried and Reynaldo Lopez. With their lack of major league talent in the rotation, they have tried all of their top prospects in the fifth starter spot. So far, Spencer Schwellenbach has been the top Braves prospect arm in the big leagues, but if Atlanta loses another starter, they will need another prospect to step in.

The next option to fill in is Atlanta's top prospect, AJ Smith-Shawver. Smith-Shawver would still be in the big leagues if he hadn't gotten hurt in his first big league start of the year. His first start of the year was a success, going 4.1 innings without allowing a run before being pulled with an injury. Since returning from the injured list, the 21-year-old has made four starts in the minor leagues allowing seven hits and six earned runs in 13.1 innings.

Adding the team's top prospect back to the major league roster would be the starting pitcher acquisition that the Braves didn't commit to in the trade market. He has as high of a ceiling as anybody in the organization.