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Despite the woes for rotation depth early this offseason, there is quietly a lot of competition for the back of the bullpen. Tyler Kinley, Dylan Lee, Dylan Dodd, Hayden Harris, and James Karinchak all had strong outings out of the bullpen Wednesday, with Harris and Karinchak looking especially impressive. The Braves have four bullpen locks or near locks with Raisel Iglesias, Robert Suarez, Aaron Bummer, Dylan Lee. If they choose to run with a 6-man rotation to start the season, they would only have 3 spots left in the bullpen. Joel Payamps seems a likely member of the bullpen, while Hayden Harris, Daysbel Hernandez, James Karinchak, Ian Hamilton, Jose Suarez, Joey Wentz, and potentially even Jhancarlos Lara are real options for the bullpen. Harris, Hernandez, Dodd and Lara all have options, so they could very easily find themselves in AAA, though Dodd especially and to a lesser extent Harris and Hernandez may have real claims to a top 7-8 option on the 40-man. Hamilton and Karinchak are on minor league or split contracts, which sometimes include options for veterans to opt out if they don’t make the active roster, so they may be effectively out of options. Meanwhile, Wentz and Jose Suarez are out of minor league options.
I would personally not be particularly inclined to keep Jose Suarez, as he seems like a very replacement level pitcher, but this front office does often opt to preserve depth over picking the best guys for Opening Day. I am intrigued by Karinchak if he can look anything like his old dominant self. Hamilton has been good in the past, but we need to see which version of himself he looks like. Wentz could make sense as the de facto 6th member of the rotation who could easily convert to a solid lefty reliever with some stamina for multiple innings as needed. It will be a fascinating battle to watch over the next month.
Braves News
Austin Riley went yard, as Baldwin and Profar collected extra-base hits against Paul Skenes and bullpen competitors shined in a 3-1 Spring Training win.
MLB News
Braves’ legend AJ Minter is still recovering from surgery and is eying a May return for the Mets.
Top prospect Konnor Griffin is having extension discussions with the Pirates, as he looks poised to take the league by storm.
Merrill Kelly is dealing with back issues and is unlikely to be ready for Opening Day for the Diamondbacks.