Unlike previous years where the trade deadline was an exciting time, this year's deadline for the Atlanta Braves and their fans was a sad occasion. The Braves put together a brutal first half that already had them out of contention and much of the chatter before the deadline was around exactly how many players Atlanta would trade away. However, Atlanta did make one addition and that move is paying off handsomely right now.
When the Braves traded for Tyler Kinley, it didn't get much attention outside of some pretty easy comparisons to when Atlanta acquired Pierce Johnson from the Rockies. Kinley played in Colorado which is...not known to get players exposure and his numbers this season were pretty pedestrian.
However, Kinley has thrived since coming over to the Braves. In fact, his run of success not only is putting him in the running for more high leverage opportunities, but it is getting to be borderline silly just how good he has been including his dominant appearance against the Nationals on Tuesday.
Tyler Kinley is putting together quite the impressive run with the Braves to close out 2025
Just looking at the surface level numbers, what Kinley has done since the trade is pretty impressive. In 19 appearances with the Braves, Kinley has posted a sterling 0.45 ERA and 2.30 FIP. However crazy it may seem, those numbers almost undersell how good Kinley has been.
On August 5, Kinley made his third appearance for Atlanta and gave up an earned run against the Brewers who seem to be terrorizing everyone this year. Since that appearance, Kinley not only hasn't given up an earned run, he has only given up just six hits total and only walked two batters. We aren't mathematicians here, but a 1.94 FIP across 17.1 innings seems to be pretty good.
Kinley's profile as a reliever is somewhat atypical. He does strike batters out, but what he is really good at is getting weak contact in the air. Having fly ball tendencies can be crazy, but opposing hitters just can't square up his slider leading to a ton of harmless fly outs and pretty quick innings. Kinley also does have a good whiff rate in 2025 which points to potentially more strikeouts coming in the future.
No one probably thought that the Braves were adding a high leverage bullpen cornerstone when Kinley arrived in Atlanta. However, if current trends are any indication, that is exactly what the Braves may have added.