The Braves sent left-hander Bailey Falter outright to Triple-A Gwinnett, according to the MLB.com transaction tracker. That was expected when Atlanta designated him for assignment on Monday.

Falter has more than three years of service time and can technically elect free agency. It’s likelier he’ll accept the assignment, as he’d otherwise be leaving the final couple weeks of his $3.6MM salary behind (around $232K). Falter could make one final appearance with the Stripers before their season ends on Sunday.

Assuming he accepts the assignment, there’s a chance Falter gets another MLB look next week. Atlanta looks increasingly likely to finish as the #3 seed in the National League. They rearranged their rotation to have Chris Sale make his final regular season appearance a week from now. That’ll line him up on five days rest for Game 1 of the Wild Card Series the following Tuesday. They’ll presumably want Tyler Mahle available for Game 2.

That could leave the Braves throwing only depth arms in their final game or two of the regular season in Miami. JR Ritchie and Martín Pérez should each get a start in that series, with AJ Smith-Shawver, Owen Murphy, Elieser Hernández and Falter among the other options to eat a few innings and keep their top arms rested for the first round.

Falter, acquired alongside Lane Thomas as salary relief for the Royals, has made two relief appearances in an Atlanta uniform. He has worked 3 1/3 scoreless innings after tossing 10 1/3 spotless frames with Gwinnett. While it has undoubtedly been a nice showing with his new team, Falter is a soft-tosser who doesn’t miss many bats and was knocked around in Kansas City. He’ll reach minor league free agency this offseason if the Braves don’t put him back on the MLB roster. Even if they call him up in the final weekend, they’re not likely to tender him an arbitration contract.