Blair has appeared in two games at Double-A Richmond since signing a minor-league deal with the Giants on July 23, working a total of five innings while allowing three runs on five hits and five walks.
Blair had been pitching for the West Virginia Power of the independent Atlantic League of Professional Baseball before catching on with the Giants. The 29-year-old right-hander previously made 16 starts in the majors with Atlanta between the 2016 and 2017 seasons, but he has a long way to go before he resurfaces on the big-league radar.
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Aaron Blair: Released by D-backs
Rotowire
Blair was released by the Diamondbacks on Friday, JJ Cooper of Baseball America reports.
A former top-100 prospect who was once traded from Arizona to Atlanta along with Dansby Swanson and Ender Inciarte in the infamous Shelby Miller trade, Blair never came close to living up to his billing as a potential mid-rotation starter. He last pitched in the majors in 2017 with the Braves.
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Diamondbacks' Aaron Blair: Signs minors deal with Diamondbacks
Rotowire
Blair signed a minor-league contract with the Diamondbacks on Wednesday, Chris Cotillo of The Springfield Republican reports.
Blair was released by Braves in May 2018 after undergoing surgery to repair a capsule tear in his shoulder. The 27-year-old had his longest major-league stint in 2016 with Atlanta, recording a 7.59 ERA, 1.66 WHIP and 46 strikeouts across 70 innings. Blair will look to extinguish any injury-related doubts and begin a new chapter to his professional career with Arizona a stint that will almost certainly begin in the minors.
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Aaron Blair: Let go Thursday
Rotowire
Blair (shoulder) was released by the Braves on Thursday, David O'Brien of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.
Blair was set to miss the rest of the 2018 season after undergoing surgery for a capsule tear in his shoulder. He'll look to latch on elsewhere following a lengthy rehab process.
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Braves' Aaron Blair: Will miss remainder of 2018 season
Rotowire
Blair underwent surgery for a capsule tear in his shoulder Tuesday, David O'Brien of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.
Blair will be forced to miss the rest of the 2018 campaign as he begins a lengthy rehab process. He'll look to continue his development at some point next season. Blair has spent most of his career in the minors, although he does have some experience with the big club. The 25-year-old has started 16 games for the Braves across two seasons, struggling to a 7.89 ERA and 1.73 WHIP.
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Braves' Aaron Blair: Undergoes surgery Tuesday
Rotowire
Blair underwent surgery to fix his shoulder injury on Tuesday.
It's unclear how long Blair will need to recover after undergoing surgery, but a timeframe should come into focus as his rehab progresses. He figures to be out for a large chunk of the season, if not all of it.
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Braves' Aaron Blair: Dealing with shoulder injury
Rotowire
Blair was removed from Wednesday's start at Triple-A Gwinnett due to a shoulder injury, David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.
Blair was placed on the 7-day DL and will visit Dr. James Andrews on Monday. The right-hander was removed from his outing in the third inning and appeared to sustain the injury while attempting to cover home plate after throwing a wild pitch. Expect an update on his status following Monday's appointment.
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Braves' Aaron Blair: Leaves Wednesday's start at Triple-A
Rotowire
Blair left Wednesday's start for Triple-A Gwinnett in the third inning with an undisclosed injury, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.
He was attempting to cover home plate after a wild pitch when he reportedly got hurt. The 25-year-old had already walked five batters at that point in the game, and despite his spot on the 40-man roster, Blair seems to be moving backwards in his development and was unlikely to get called up to the Braves any time soon even before his injury.
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Braves' Aaron Blair: Optioned to Triple-A
Rotowire
Blair was optioned to Triple-A Gwinnett, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.
Blair had a 4.15 ERA in spring training but with 10 hits and five walks allowed in 8.2 innings. Luiz Gohara's ankle injury created an opening in the Braves' rotation, but Blair didn't make a strong impression this spring.
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Braves' Aaron Blair: Spring struggles continue Friday
Rotowire
Blair got the start in Friday's Grapefruit League game against the Pirates, allowing three runs on four hits and two walks over two innings while striking out one.
Luiz Gohara's ankle injury has created an opening in the Braves' rotation, but Blair has done little this spring to demonstrate he deserves a chance to fill it, posting a 2:3 K:BB through seven innings. Expect the 25-year-old right-hander to begin the season back at Triple-A Gwinnett, where he managed a poor 5.02 ERA and 1.50 WHIP in 127.1 innings last year.
Blair has dropped 40 pounds since last spring and says he feels great, David O'Brien of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.
Blair apparently shed most of the weight during his offseason workout regimen, and he says he's moving better and throwing easier as a result. The 25-year-old spent most of the 2017 campaign with Triple-A Gwinnett, compiling an unremarkable 5.02 ERA and 104:56 K:BB across 127.1 innings (25 starts) before suffering a torn lat muscle during his final start of the season. He also earned a brief promotion to the majors, but was sent down after allowing five runs on five hits and five walks in just three innings. Blair should be healthy heading into spring training, where he'll have an outside shot at winning one of the Braves' final rotation spots.
Blair is dealing with a possible lat-muscle injury suffered in Friday's start, David O'Brien of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.
It's been a rocky tenure with the Braves for Blair to say the least. After posting a 7.59 ERA with the team last season, he surrendered five earned runs in his only appearance of 2017. It now appears the injury bug may have bitten him, as he was lifted from his last start for Triple-A Gwinnett after 79 pitches. The team will play it safe and send him for an MRI, after which more information should be known.
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Braves' Aaron Blair: Optioned to Gwinnett
Rotowire
Blair was optioned to Triple-A Gwinnett after Wednesday's game.
Blair has been awful for the Braves, as he owns a 7.59 ERA and 46:34 K:BB over 15 starts. The 24-year-old will try and right the ship in Triple-A. Atlanta has a day off Thursday, so the club will wait until Friday to announce the corresponding roster move.
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Braves' Aaron Blair: Struggles mightily in season debut
Rotowire
Blair (0-1) gave up five runs on five hits and five walks over just three innings in Wednesday's loss to Arizona.
The 25-year-old's poor Triple-A stats suggested something like this might happen upon his reintroduction to the big leagues, and indeed, Blair was just as bad as could be expected. There's no reason to believe he'll improve dramatically even if the Braves do let him run with a rotation spot for a while.
Blair was recalled by the Braves ahead of his scheduled start Wednesday.
The right-hander will take recently traded Jaime Garcia's spot in the rotation for Wednesday's tilt with the D-Backs -- his first major-league appearance since he made 15 starts with Atlanta last season. Blair has posted a 4.86 ERA and 1.48 WHIP in 18 starts with Triple-A Gwinnett this year, and he'll need to fare much better than that if he wants to keep a permanent spot on the Braves' roster, as other potential replacements are lurking.
Blair will start Wednesday's contest against the Diamondbacks, Mark Bowman of MLB.com reports.
Blair was scratched from his scheduled Thursday start last week in case he needed to make a spot start Friday in Jaime Garcia's place; now that the Garcia trade has finally gone through, the young righty will get to start in his place. Despite the upcoming outing, the 24-year-old may not have more opportunities to start if this one goes poorly, as reports have widely linked Lucas Sims to the vacant rotation spot.
Blair was scratched from Thursday's start with Triple-A Gwinnett and could replace Jaime Garcia in the big-league rotation if the latter is dealt in the meantime, Chris Cotillo of SB Nation reports.
Multiple reports are linking Garcia to the Twins, so Blair may need to head to the big leagues to replace the veteran lefty in the rotation Friday night. If this all plays out as expected, Blair would face off with southpaw Alex Wood and the Dodgers, although no official word has come on this front as of now.
