Do the Atlanta Braves need to acquire a pitcher at the deadline?

Assuming the Braves are able to right the ship and make a run, do they need to reinforce the pitching staff

(After a one-day layoff for breaking batted ball news, we’re back to this week’s glance at the outlook for the rest of the season, from the best to the worst-case scenarios. For instance, today’s about shoring up the rotation and/or bullpen for a postseason push, while Thursday is a light sell at the deadline and Friday is a “what if” on an extreme tear-down and rebuild. Let me know your thoughts on doing a “theme week” in the comments or on social media)

We all expected the pitching staff to be a weakness, specifically the bullpen, after Atlanta didn’t significantly address the position group over the offseason.

Sure the Braves added bodies, it was very much a ‘quantity over quality’ approach. Rather than signing Tanner Scott, Jeff Hoffman, or any of the other backend relievers to an eight-figure deal, Atlanta added a large number of guys on split or minor-league deals, hoping to unearth a diamond in the rough.

As we head into June, how is the pitching staff doing and where do they need to supplement? Let’s talk about it.

The bullpen hasn’t been bad

I’m beginning here instead of with the rotation because this is what we expected the team’s weakness to be entering the season.

(How innocent were we back then?)

Heading into Tuesday’s series opener against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Atlanta’s bullpen was holding a 3.59 ERA. But that number’s a bit skewed by Raisel Iglesias, who holds an ERA of 5.64 while he’s been dealing with this home run problem.

Subtracting Iglesias gives you an ERA of 3.31.

Last season’s bullpen, with an effective Iglesias plus Joe Jiménez (injured), A.J. Minter (departed in free agency) and Grant Holmes (now in the rotation), finished with a 3.32 ERA.

Honestly, the Atlanta bullpen is performing well enough that, barring injury, this shouldn’t be a focus when the team starts making deals. This also isn’t considering any sort of return for injured pitchers Reynaldo López, who may end up returning as a reliever, and setup man Joe Jiménez, who is quickly coming up short of his stated timetable from last fall, when he underwent knee surgery. Those two, plus several of the options in the minors like veterans Craig Kimbrel and Dylan Dodd or prospects Jhancarlos Lara and Hayden Harris, mean that this isn’t as pressing a need as we expected it to be over the winter.

That’s not to say that they won’t acquire a reliever - almost all contenders do at the deadline, just to have reinforcements - but rather, it shouldn’t be the main focus.

If Atlanta is in a position to get someone for the backend, righty Kyle Finnegan or lefty Andrew Chafin, both of the Washington Nationals, would be fits for the pen. So would several options from the Baltimore Orioles - while I don’t think they’d move closer Félix Bautista, there are both some rental veterans (righty Deranthony Domínguez, lefty Gregory Soto) and some multi-year options (Keegan Akin, Yennier Cano) that would probably be gettable with a 45 FV pitching prospect.

I’d go out and get a starter

I’ve talked about this before, but the Braves rotation is now completely in its depth and doesn’t have any known quantities waiting to come up and give them innings from the minors.

Of the original seven arms that Snit wanted stretched out in spring training, two are on the injured list in Reynaldo López and AJ Smith-Shawver, Ian Anderson was traded (and later re-signed to a minor league deal) and Spencer Strider returned to make a quintet of hurlers in the majors:

Chris Sale
Spencer Schwellenbach
Grant Holmes
Bryce Elder
Spencer Strider

But as I’ve discussed many, many times before on this newsletter, the workload concerns are numerous with most of these guys and the depth isn’t great. Adding another starter, preferably a veteran who can reliably take starts and innings, would go a long way towards stabilizing the floor of this rotation.

I’d expect it to be someone pretty affordable, like lefty veterans Andrew Heaney of the Pittsburgh Pirates or Tyler Anderson of the Los Angeles Angels. Both are free agents after the season. If Atlanta wants multiple years of control, the Athletics could offer up lefties Jeffrey Springs or JP Sears but would need to pay an accordingly higher price.

(I’d think about acquiring someone with an additional year of control, if for no other reason than as injury insurance for whichever starter they’re likely to lose in the 2026 season’s first month.)

For the sake of lefty/righty balance, Michael Soroka or Trevor Williams of the Washington Nationals are rental right-handers that could potentially be helpful down the stretch to take innings.

Any package deals to be made here?

There’s a frequent trading partner that could fill two or three holes with one singular deal here: The Los Angeles Angels. Run by former Atlanta assistant general manager Perry Minasian, these two teams have made numerous deals over the last few seasons and could pair up on one more that could potentially pay dividends for the Braves down the stretch. Try this one on for size:

Braves receive:
LF Taylor Ward
LHP Tyler Anderson
RHP Kenley Jansen

Angels receive:
RHP Ian Mejia
RHP Logan Samuels
OF Luis Guanipa

(Obviously, the specific prospects don’t matter here - this is my way of illustrating it’s not taking any of your top prospects for the deal, although you may need to lead the package with someone more impressive than a pending R5 eligible arm that Atlanta won’t be protecting.)

Acquiring Ward gives the team an everyday starter in left field, taking over for the Alex Verdugo/Eli White platoon, as well as adding a starter and a backend reliever to the team’s mix.

Tomorrow we’re going to be flipping this - which teams would by buying from Atlanta if they were to hold a ‘light’ deadline sale?