The Braves made yet another trade on Friday night, acquiring Ray Kerr, Matt Carpenter, and cash from the Padres for minor-league outfielder Drew Campbell.
Kerr appeared in 22 games for the Padres this past season and had some pretty intriguing numbers. The 4.33 ERA is nothing to write home about; it’s respectable, but the 11.7 K/9 stands out. He’s a guy that can hum it in the high-90s from the left side and induce a lot of whiffs. It’s possible he carves out a role for himself in the Braves bullpen, especially if injuries arise.
Matt Carpenter is a well known veteran that spent the bulk of his career with the Cardinals, where he made three All-Star teams. At this point in his career, he’s barely even a bench bat, hitting .176 with a .641 OPS in 237 plate appearances this year. Carpenter did, however, have sort of a miraculous revival in 2022 with the Yankees, recording a 1.138 OPS and 15 homers over just 47 games. At 38-years-old, we’ll see what the Braves do with him. He wouldn’t be the worst guy to have on the bench in a pinch, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the club went in a different direction either.
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