After missing the entire 2025 season due to a knee injury, Atlanta Braves fans wondered whether late inning reliever Joe Jiménez would be ready for the start of the 2026 season. Jiménez had undergone additional surgery this offseason on the same knee that wiped out his 2025, but the hope would be that he could return without issue.
Sadly, just like the hope that the injuries wouldn't bother Spencer Schwellenbach in 2026, the hope that Joe Jiménez would be ready to go were dashed on the first day of spring training. The Braves placed the righty on the 60-day IL, and strangely consoled themselves by re-acquiring utility player Brett Wisely, who they traded just a month ago, from the Tampa Bay Rays.
The #Braves today acquired INF Brett Wisely from the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for cash considerations and placed RHP Joe Jiménez on the 60-day injured list with a left articular cartilage injury.
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) February 11, 2026
Joe Jiménez injury puts hitch into 2026 bullpen plans
Even after the offseason, surgery, there was no guarantee from the Braves front office that the 31-year-old reliever would be ready for the start of Opening Day. However, the idea that Jiménez wouldn't even be ready by May never seemed like a possibility until the Braves placed him on the 60-day IL on Tuesday.
When Jiménez is healthy, he's one of the best non-closers in baseball. From 2022-2024, he was the 15th-best reliever in baseball, including closers, by fWAR, accumulating 3.7 total fWAR. In his two seasons with the Braves after being traded from Detroit, he was fourth on the team in ERA, with a 2.81 ERA, while accumulating the second-most innings.
Although the Braves have a solid plan to cover their high leverage innings after signing Robert Suarez, the club would have highly benefited from having Jiménez alongside Aaron Bummer and Tyler Kinley in the middle innings. Instead, the door now opens for a fringe reliever to make the Opening Day roster.
The Braves decided that since Jiménez was going to miss the two months anyway to begin the season, they would go ahead and use that 40-man roster spot by acquiring infielder Brett Wisely. Wisely made a four-game cameo for Atlanta at the end of the 2025 season, going 0-6 in his nine plate appearances.
Atlanta had designated him for assignment in January, and subsequently traded Wisely to the Rays. However, the Rays DFA'd him late last week, and the Braves figured it would be worth it to add one more infielder to the mix to compete for the last spot on the roster.