Things finally appear to be turning around for the Atlanta Braves baseball club. Fresh off their best stretch of the 2025 season (a 5-1 homestand), the Braves will hit the road for yet another west coast trip. Obviously we're all hoping for better results than the nightmarish start Atlanta experienced to begin the year against the Padres and Dodgers.
The team is a bit battered in the pitching department at the moment, but that doesn't mean there aren't some helpful moves available to be made. Let's go over a few no-brainer decisions Alex Anthopoulos can make to help turn this pitching staff around.
The return of the Braves all-time saves leader
The franchise leader in saves with 186 could be on his way back to Atlanta in the very near future. Craig Kimbrel was recently promoted to Triple-A Gwinnett as he continues to build up his arm for a full big league season.
Kimbrel made three scoreless appearances for Columbus striking out six batters before the Braves moved him up to Triple-A. It's likely Kimbrel will need to have at least a couple outings for Gwinnett before we could see him with the big league squad.
The bullpen is in desperate need of some stability as Atlanta's relievers rank 28th in baseball with a -0.5 fWAR according to Fangraphs. The group also owns the seventh worst ERA (4.59) and eighth worst FIP (4.36).
Swap Bryce Elder for AJ Smith-Shawver
After the unfortunate hamstring injury to Spencer Strider, the Braves will probably be forced to roll with Bryce Elder in the rotation longer than they're comfortable with. Despite Elder's solid outing yesterday afternoon, it's clear top prospect AJ Smith-Shawver has more to offer the big league club as of right now.
AJSS made their starts and had a 4.61 ERA and 4.20 FIP before his head scratching demotion. Meanwhile Elder has made four starts producing a 5.57 ERA and looking a lot like the guy who has struggled since the second half of 2023.
It's true AJSS has battled command problems (8 walks in just 13.2 innings), but the swing and miss stuff he owns offers much more for Atlanta at the moment. Of course there will be growing pains with the 22 year-old righty, but the Braves didn't afford themselves the luxury of avoiding those when they chose to remain quiet on the pitching market this winter.
Callup a prospect to bolster the bullpen
As mentioned earlier, the Atlanta Braves bullpen is in desperate need of reinforcements. Thankfully, there's a few intriguing arms in the system that could prove to be ready to handle a low-mid leverage role down in the bullpen.
At seasons beginning a name like Jhancarlos Lara would've been a good shout thanks to his electric stuff. Sadly, the Braves 12th ranked prospect has struggled to throw strikes at Double-A Columbus. So what prospects do the Braves have that could help?
The first answer is an older prospect, but the 30th ranked prospect nonetheless. Left-handed reliever Hayden Harris is carving up Double-A hitters at the moment. On the season Harris has yet to allow a run in 7.2 innings of work, and sports a 0.26 WHIP. He doesn't blow away hitters with velocity, but his fastball still produced a 42% whiff rate in 2024. The former Savanna Banana (yes you read that right) is 26 years-old so the clock is ticking for a Major League stint.
Another name to watch is the Braves 28th ranked prospect Elison Joseph. The 24 year-old righty has some electric stuff, and when he's in the strike zone he can be a real weapon. Joseph currently owns a 1.35 ERA while pitching in Double-A. His fastball sits in the upper 90s and his slider generates a ton of whiffs. Should he continue to pound the zone and rack up K's expect a fast ascension through the Braves system.
Finally we'll end with the 2022 second round comp pick, Blake Burkhalter. This one may be a bit more far fetched as the Braves likely want him to continue developing as a starter, but should the Major League situation get dire enough don't be shocked to see Burkhalter in Atlanta. The former Auburn Tiger has a solid three pitch mix with the ability to attack the strike zone.