Royce Ring pitching for the Braves in Spring Training.
photo by Tim Evearitt
ATLANTA -- The struggles Royce Ring has experienced over the past two weeks forced the Braves to designate him for assignment on Saturday afternoon. He was replaced in the bullpen by right-handed reliever Vladimir Nunez, whose contract was purchased from Triple-A Richmond.
In the eight appearances Ring made since the All-Star break, he posted a 31.50 ERA (14 earned runs in four innings), and allowed opponents to produce a .536 batting average with a .611 on-base percentage.
During this miserable stretch, left-handed batters hit .364 (4-for-11) against Ring and right-handed batters produced a .647 (11-for-17) batting average.
With both Manny Acosta and Jeff Bennett on the disabled list coming out of the break, the 27-year-old reliever was given the opportunity to prove himself against right-handed hitters.
Ring's recent struggles ruined what had the makings of a good season. In his 29 appearances before the All-Star break, he posted a 1.72 ERA and limited opponents to a .228 batting average.
During this stretch, left-handers batted .229 against him and right-handers were limited to a .227 batting average.
While with the Braves for three appearances in July, Nunez worked 4 2/3 innings and allowed two earned runs. Both of those runs came during his three-inning appearance in the 15-6 loss to the Nationals on July 20.
He threw a scoreless ninth against Milwaukee Saturday.
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Adapted from MLB.com