In the wake of a pretty brutal loss to the Rays on Tuesday, we knew the Atlanta Braves had some roster moves coming. Reynaldo Lopez's return from the injured list has been telegraphed since last week, and we learned on Tuesday that Bryce Elder needed knee surgery and would be put on the shelf for at least a few weeks. The only uncertainty was whether or not the Braves had some other roster moves in store as well.
As it turns out, the Braves did have a couple of tricks up their sleeve. On Wednesday, the Braves did indeed activate Lopez and placed Elder on the injured list. However, they also DFA'd Elieser Hernandez again and called up Bailey Falter, who the Braves added at this year's trade deadline.
Braves have called up Bailey Falter, designated Elieser Hernández for assignment, activated Reynaldo López and placed Bryce Elder on the 15-day injured list (backdated to Sept. 6)
— Chad Bishop (@MrChadBishop) September 9, 2026
Braves activate Reynaldo Lopez, place Bryce Elder on IL, and call up Bailey Falter
Okay, there is a decent amount to unpack here, so we will start with the basics. Lopez has always been pegged as a starter of one of these games against the Rays, so his activation was a given. Elder already had knee surgery, so making that swap was about as straightforward as it gets and is definitely cleaner than the original plan of moving Elder to the bullpen.
Going one step further, the Braves needed a fresh bullpen arm after Brent Suter threw 45 pitches on Tuesday and Hernandez added 49 of his own. Given that the Braves have already maneuvered Hernandez through waivers in the past, designating him for assignment is the least risky (but still somewhat risky) way of keeping him in the organization while getting a reliever in there that would actually be available in the next couple of days.
The Braves landed on Falter as that reliever, who came over in the Lane Thomas trade with the Royals. Falter was once a very promising pitching prospect before falling on harder times in recent years. However, his numbers in the minor leagues have been pretty good this season, with a 2.68 ERA and 3.02 FIP in 53.2 innings of work. Importantly, Falter can also go multiple innings if needed, which could be important with Hernandez gone and Suter unavailable for the next few days, in all likelihood.
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