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Intriguing Braves prospect Jhancarlos Lara makes eye-popping Stripers debut

Originally posted on SportsTalkATL | By Chase Irle | Last updated May 13, 2025 8:06 PM ET

The Braves made an intriguing promotion over the weekend, sending hard-throwing righty Jhancarlos Lara to Gwinnett, despite some less than stellar surface level statistics.

In 17.2 innings for the Columbus Clingstones — the Braves AA-affiliate — Lara posted an eye-popping 11.27 ERA. Opponents hit .319 off him, and he walked 19 batters, leading to a 2.38 WHIP. Those kinds of numbers don’t typically lead to a promotion, but Lara has an arm that can’t be taught, and with the Braves moving him to the bullpen, they clearly believe he could potentially play a role for the big-league club as soon as this season.

On Tuesday, we got our first glimpse as to why. Jhancarlos Lara pitched a scoreless frame in his first appearance with the Stripers, striking out one batter on a 101 MPH fastball. He averaged 100 MPH with his heater on the afternoon, which he pairs with a nasty wipeout slider.

Jhancarlos Lara (ATL) made his AAA debut!

Lara is a hard-throwing righty with a devastating slider and a blazing fastball. He showed off his incredible stuff today and averaged 100 MPH on his heater https://t.co/lpKxRYoTgQ pic.twitter.com/Ytau0nBuOL

— Thomas Nestico (@TJStats) May 13, 2025

As a starting pitcher, there should be concerns about Lara’s control. Opponents also clearly got used to the heat the more they saw it, but as a reliever, those issues can be overlooked because of his incredible swing-and-miss.

This is an exciting development on the farm. The Braves bullpen, outside of Raisel Iglesias, has been much better of late. However, they could really use some more firepower, which Lara provides in spades. If he can keep the walks down with the Stripers, it’s highly likely we see him in Atlanta at some point this season.

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

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