Braves sign fleet-footed bench player Terrance Gore to minors deal

The Braves have agreed to a minor league deal with outfielder Terrance Gore, as first indicated on the Triple-A transactions log at MLB.com. Gore is represented by the L. Warner Companies.

Gore, 29, appeared in two games with the Dodgers in 2020 and played in 37 games with the Royals a year prior. He’s best known for the blistering speed that has made him such a valuable weapon off the bench for the Royals, Cubs and Dodgers during playoff drives and in the postseason itself.

Gore has appeared in 102 MLB games but has only 77 plate appearances due to his heavy use as a pinch-runner and defensive replacement. In that brief sample of work at the plate, he’s a .224/.325/.284 hitter. Despite the lack of plate appearances, he’s racked up 40 stolen bases in the big leagues and another five in postseason play (despite only having two actual playoff plate appearances to his name).

Gore won’t be in big-league camp with the Braves, but he’ll give them some elite speed to stash in Triple-A, where he’s a career .213/.307/.269 hitter in 492 plate appearances. During that 2019 season, Statcast measured Gore’s average sprint speed at a whopping 29.9 feet per second, tying him for ninth-best among 568 Major Leaguers.