Braves Spring Training officially kicked off yesterday in North Port, Florida with pitchers and catchers reporting. Position players aren’t required to report until February 18th, but most of Atlanta’s biggest stars didn’t waste any time getting down to camp much earlier than required, including Ronald Acuña Jr., who is rehabbing from a second ACL injury and hopes to be back on the field before the end of May.
This continues a series covering the biggest storylines for the Braves this Spring Training. If you missed any of the previous pieces, follow the links below.
Braves Bullpen Concerns
The most head-scratching aspect of the Braves offseason thus far has been their lack of attention to the bullpen. Atlanta’s lineup really only had one hole, and they filled it with the acquisition of Jurickson Profar. The rotation could have probably used a boost, but the market for starting pitchers was understandably too rich for Alex Anthopoulos, who is always looking to get the most bang for his buck.
However, relievers are a dime a dozen, and plenty of arms were available for short-term contracts with AAVs around $10 million. That’s more than affordable, and the Braves are currently without their two top set-up men from a year ago.
A.J. Minter — arguably Atlanta’s most reliable bullpen arm over the last half-decade — was poached by the Mets, signing for two-years, $22 million. Meanwhile, Joe Jimenez underwent offseason knee surgery and will miss most, if not all of the 2025 campaign.
Those are two of the better set-up men in baseball that have covered well over 100 high leverage innings for the Braves in each of the last two seasons, and Anthopoulos has done absolutely nothing to replace them.
Of course, there’s still time for that to change before Opening Day, with several proven free agent arms remaining on the market. But as currently constructed, the Braves bullpen is nowhere near good enough to compete in the gauntlet that will be the NL East this year.
There are some internal options to keep an eye on this Spring Training, however. Daysbel Hernandez looks like he is finally going to get a full season in the majors, and the Braves are understandably very high on his potential. In 16 appearances for the major-league club last season, he posted a 2.50 ERA while punching out 13 batters per nine innings.
Angel Perdomo is a wild card that could turn out to be Alex Anthopoulos’ next diamond in the rough. He’s coming off Tommy John surgery and doesn’t exactly have the track record of a high leverage reliever, boasting an unsightly 5.55 ERA over 52 major-league appearances. However, he’s a big arm from the left side that has averaged 14.2 strikeouts per nine innings over his career.
Without any additions, a lot would have to go perfectly for the Braves to be satisfied with their bullpen. The losses of Minter and Jimenez shouldn’t just be glossed over when reviewing the outlook for the 2025 club, but if there is one area where Anthopoulos has thrived, it’s finding high quality relievers for pennies out of nowhere. Perhaps another will emerge this Spring Training.
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Photo: Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire
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