The Atlanta Braves completely reshaped their bullpen this offseason, and there was a clear focus on getting more velocity in the relief core.
Alex Anthopoulos worked quickly to re-sign Joe Jimenez and Pierce Johnson; both were acquired last season via trade and were handed multiyear deals. They rejoined Raisel Iglesias and AJ Minter, but Anthopoulos wasn’t done. In a trade, he acquired Aaron Bummer and signed Reynaldo Lopez in free agency.
That means the Braves have at least five high-leverage relievers and maybe even six if Bummer experiences some positive regression as the Braves expect. Then, there are the arms returning from injury like Dylan Lee and Tyler Matzek, who, if they round back into form, would give Brian Snitker two more southpaws.
After that, A.A. has a few lottery tickets as he usually does. Ray Kerr can hum it, and he took a flier on Penn Murfee, who might be able to return at the end of the season following Tommy John surgery in June. However, there could be another potentially critical piece whom not many people are talking about, a once-promising arm — Huascar Ynoa.
Across 17 starts in 2021, the hard-throwing righty posted a 4.05 ERA, 3.40 xFIP and 1.11 WHIP while showcasing his dynamic arm with a blistering fastball and devastating slider that resulted in a 26.9 K%.
However, those numbers don’t accurately capture the potential. Before a hand injury in May, Ynoa looked like he was on the fast track to becoming a star. He pitched to the tune of a 3.03 ERA over 44.2 innings with only 11 walks to 50 strikeouts through May 16.
A young Ynoa then punched a dugout bench, causing him to miss two months, and he was never the same. When he returned in August, Ynoa went 4-5 with a 5.05 ERA over 46.1 innings pitched.
Going into 2022, there was some expectation that he could return to form because of his stuff, but that never came to fruition. He had a terrible start, which continued in Triple-A. Eventually, he went under the knife in September 2022, costing him all of 2023.
Now, he’s back from Tommy John surgery and will be ready for spring training. Ynoa’s struggles could be partially attributed to the elbow injury, so there’s hope he can contribute in 2024. I don’t know how many opportunities he’ll have as a starter, but his repertoire is ideal for a relief role. Anything Ynoa gives the Braves this season will be icing on the cake. Nobody should have expectations that he’ll be a critical piece of the bullpen, let alone the starting rotation, but he’s still young with an incredible arm worth getting excited about.
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