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Braves acquire intriguing relief arm in trade with Rockies

Originally posted on SportsTalkATL | By Chase Irle | Last updated Jul 30, 2025 2:30 PM ET

Even amid a lost season, the Braves continue to add ahead of Thursday’s trade deadline.

Earlier in the week, Atlanta acquired two starting pitchers in Erick Fedde and Carlos Carrasco. Neither should be apart of the club’s future plans. The Braves just needed some veteran arms that could eat innings. However, that isn’t necessarily the case for Atlanta’s most recent addition.

According to Mark Feinsand, the Braves have acquired right-handed pitcher Tyler Kinley from the Rockies in exchange for a prospect.

The Braves are acquiring RHP Tyler Kinley from the Rockies for a prospect, per source.

— Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) July 30, 2025

Tyler Kinley’s surface level numbers are pretty gross — 5.66 ERA over 49 appearances. However, there are a lot of reasons to like this trade from the Braves’ perspective.

Kinley’s 4.14 FIP suggests he’s been the beneficiary of some shoddy luck, and his peripherals are actually pretty impressive.

95th percentile in Average Exit Velocity
84th percentile in Whiff %
83rd percentile in Chase %
97th percentile in Hard Hit %
82nd percentile in Barrel %
62nd percentile in xERA
61st percentile in K %

Playing half his games at Coors Field also hasn’t done Tyler Kinley any favors.

This is a decent low-risk, high reward move for the Braves, reminiscent of another trade with the Rockies when Atlanta acquired Pierce Johnson ahead of the trade deadline. Johnson, who boasts a 2.73 ERA in 123 appearances for the Braves, had a 6.00 ERA in Colorado before he was traded to Atlanta.

The Braves now have a trial run with Tyler Kinley over the final two months of the season. If he shows any signs of positive regression, Alex Anthopoulos can pick up his $5 million club option for 2026 without any hesitation.

This article first appeared on SportsTalkATL and was syndicated with permission.

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