3 Braves that won't be on the roster by September 1 and why

It's been a frustrating season for the Atlanta Braves thus far, but the tides are starting to turn in their favor. They've won five of their last six games to take back sole possession of the first Wild Card spot in the Natonal League. They avoided the worst-case scenario with Reynaldo Lopez's injury scare. Other injured players like Max Fried and Michael Harris II should be back sooner rather than later.

Will the Braves be favorites to win the NL Pennant? No. Do they need to be to achieve that goal? Nope. We've seen them do it before, and with how good their pitching staff is, it wouldn't be the biggest shock to see them do it again.

As they continue to get healthier and gear up for what they hope will be a lengthy postseason run, the Braves roster will have a different look come September 1 with these three players not being on it.

3) Ramon Laureano will lose his roster spot when Michael Harris makes his return from the IL

The Braves have been tinkering with their outfield for much of the season, trying to find the right combinations mainly because of injuries. Ronald Acuña Jr. was ruled out for the season in late May. Michael Harris II has been out since mid-June with an injury as well.

Losing one of them is one thing, losing both at the same time is really tough to overcome. Thankfully, Harris is expected to return sometime around August 14 when he is eligible to be activated off of the 60-day IL.

Harris' return looming means someone is going to lose his spot. This isn't an easy decision, but this boils down to either sending down the only backup infielder on Atlanta's bench, Luke Williams, or DFA'ing an outfielder, Ramon Laureano, who'd never see the field when Harris returned. Laureano is undoubtedly better than Williams, but fit-wise he doesn't make sense for when Harris returns.

Assuming Harris takes back an everyday role, Atlanta will presumably platoon Jarred Kelenic with Adam Duvall as they did earlier in the year in left field and have Jorge Soler play regularly in right. They still would have Eddie Rosario as a left-handed bat off of their bench, and would cut bait with Laureano who has played pretty well for Atlanta, but he's no Michael Harris.

2) Luke Jackson won't be on the roster by September 1 unless he pitches better

In the Soler deal, the Braves also curiously acquired Luke Jackson. Yes, Jackson was on that 2021 World Series-winning team too, but the right-hander has had a rough go of it this season, posting a 5.35 ERA in 37 appearances and 35.1 innings of work for the Giants and Braves.

He made his first appearance since being re-acquired on Thursday and did record a hold, but that was after he allowed a run-scoring single on the second pitch he threw. Jackson was able to get the next batter out to hold Atlanta's lead, but it wasn't the best first impression to allow one of the runners he inherited to score despite entering the inning with two outs.

Simply put, it feels as if the Braves have better options. A guy like Daysbel Hernandez who has allowed just one earned run in 11 innings of work at the MLB level this season is probably more deserving of an opportunity over Jackson who has struggled for much of this season.

If Jackson suddenly pitches well in a Braves uniform then sure, he can stay. We've seen several pitchers (notably Jesse Chavez) suddenly figure it out with the magic of wearing a Braves uniform. Until that happens, though, it's tough to predict Jackson will stay on the roster for too long.

1) Dylan Lee won't be on the roster by September 1 because he can be optioned

Max Fried, another injured Brave, is hoping to return to action to start Sunday's series finale against the Marlins. Whether that happens or not remains to be seen, but either way, he'll be back sometime very shortly. When he does return, he has to take someone else's spot. That's where things get tricky.

The Braves could either place Reynaldo Lopez on the IL if he's not going to pitch in the coming days, DFA a pitcher like Grant Holmes who has pitched well, or send Dylan Lee down to the minors.

It's unfair that this is even being discussed because Lee does not deserve to be sent down with as well as he has pitched, but the Braves would essentially deciding between having another team claim Holmes off of waivers or keeping both Holmes and Lee in the organization, sending Lee down to the minors.

We saw the Braves send Lee down in early July, so it wouldn't be a major shock to see them do it again. He'll be back, but while he's optionable, the Braves would be foolish to DFA a solid arm like Holmes when they can simply send Lee down without losing anybody.