The Atlanta Braves are very fond of swapping in fresh arms over and over again. Managing relievers' innings over the course of a long season is critically important, and one of the easiest ways to prevent overusage is to just have more fresh options available over the course of the year. Raisel Iglesias, Dylan Lee, and Didier Fuentes can't pitch every night, but the constant roster shuffling can have its own costs.
Elieser Hernandez came into Atlanta's matchup against the Orioles during a very tight game. The Braves had a very limited bullpen after needing it to take the Padres series, so odds were good that manager Walt Weiss was going to be looking to get multiple innings from him. Hernandez rose to the challenge and gave the Braves three scoreless innings.
Unfortunately for Hernandez, his reward for his good outing was getting DFA'd by the Braves in order to call up Connor Thomas from Triple-A Gwinnett.
The #Braves today recalled LHP Connor Thomas to Atlanta and designated RHP Elieser Hernández for assignment.
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) July 25, 2026
Braves DFA Elieser Hernandez and now just have to hope he clears waivers
Again, this is a classic Braves roster move from the Alex Anthopoulos era. In throwing three innings on Friday, Hernandez was not going to be available to pitch for at least a couple of days, and the Braves are currently on the road and in the middle of a stretch without any off days. Playing with a short bullpen just isn't really an option, so Atlanta opted to risk losing Hernandez in order to get Thomas, a lefty reliever who first appeared with the Braves in early July, up to the big club to cover innings if needed.
The Braves are betting that Hernandez's lack of track record will allow the team to sneak him through waivers to stash away at Gwinnett again. They may be successful, given that the Braves have been good about identifying guys that they can shuffle around without too much risk. However, Hernandez throwing three scoreless innings might be enough to tempt a team to take a flyer on him.
This is just a preview of some of the roster gymnastics that may be in store for Atlanta in the coming days and weeks. Between guys coming off the injured list as well as the upcoming trade deadline, the Braves have some tough choices to make coming up.
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