Braves call up Luke Williams, option Daysbel Hernández to Gwinnett

Michael Harris II’s two-run homer in Friday’s 11-5 win over the Cleveland Guardians was still fresh when the Braves turned his paternity-list absence into a full roster reset Saturday, promoting Luke Williams, moving Danny Young to the 60-day injured list and sending Daysbel Hernández back to Triple-A Gwinnett. Harris, batting .235 with two homers and seven RBIs, was eligible to miss one to three days under Major League Baseball’s paternity rules, so Atlanta could cover the gap without making a longer-term change.

Williams was the cleanest fit. The utility infielder had already played 80 major league games over the past three seasons for Atlanta, working as a super-sub across all four infield spots and even some left field, and he was hitting .241 in 10 games at Gwinnett when the call came. With Harris expected back quickly, Williams may be in for a brief stay, especially because he is out of minor-league options and cannot be moved on and off the roster as freely as other depth pieces.

The move that matters most for the bullpen was Hernández’s. Atlanta reinstated the right-hander from the 15-day injured list after he opened the season sidelined by a sebaceous cyst in his throwing shoulder, then optioned him straight to Gwinnett. That is the clearest sign of the Braves’ current bullpen hierarchy: Hernández is useful, but he was the movable piece, the arm Atlanta could send out without disturbing the club’s more secure high-leverage structure.

Gwinnett now has a clear assignment. Hernández needs cleaner command, more first-pitch strikes and sharper work against both lefties and righties if he wants a fast recall. Atlanta is not sending him to Triple-A merely to eat innings. It wants proof that the shoulder issue is behind him, that he can get ahead in counts and that his stuff plays the same way against either side of the plate before he jumps back into the major league bullpen.

Danny Young’s transfer to the 60-day IL supplied the final domino. The left-hander is rehabbing from Tommy John surgery performed in May 2025 and is not expected back until at least July, closer to the All-Star break, so the move did not change his timeline as much as it cleared the 40-man logjam created by Harris’ absence and Williams’ arrival. In one afternoon, Atlanta used a family leave, a rehab injury and an option move to keep the roster flexible while Gwinnett absorbed the fallout.