The Braves have a few holes to fill this offseason, and one of the areas they may look to shore up is the bullpen. Kenley Jansen is a free agent, and they could look to replace him if he wants a multi-year deal or too much money. There are expectations in the industry that Jansen will be back, but there are other guys like Tyler Matzek and Luke Jackson who could potentially be playing for new teams in 2023. The Braves made a sneaky good move picking up Nick Anderson, but they’ll probably want to add more than that this offseason.
LHP Andrew Chafin
The lefty Chafin spent 2022 with the Tigers, so it’s easy to understand why he didn’t get a ton of hype during this season. Still, he was effective for Detroit — posting a 2.83 ERA over 57.1 innings with 67 punchies. Chafin also only issued 19 walks. He features a heavy sinker-slider combo, which can be nasty from the left side. Chafin could be the Braves potential Tyler Matzek replacement, especially if they can get him on a bargain deal.
LHP Richard Bleier
Bleier is a name that Braves fans should be familiar with — he has been with the Marlins since 2020. Bleier was fantastic for the fish, posting a 2.16 ERA in 2020, 2.95 ERA in 2021, and a 3.55 ERA in 2022. His numbers have declined, but he doesn’t walk a lot of batters. Bleier gets a lot of chases, and hitters don’t tend to square him up — his barrel percentage is in the 90th percentile. He is another sinker-slider guy with a cutter mixed in, so he fits the same mold as Chafin — potentially at a lower price.
RHP Brad Boxberger
The only non-lefty on this list, Boxberger has been rock-solid for the Brewers over the past two seasons. Over 64 innings in 2022, Boxberger only allowed 21 earned runs. He does tend to walk guys at a high-ish rate — about 10% of the time. He isn’t going to be a true setup guy, but he’s someone the Braves can rely on to eat some innings and keep them afloat if necessary.
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Photographer: Larry Radloff/Icon Sportswire
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