New Braves reliever is making a very strong case for a 2026 comeback tour

So far, so good.

Eric Cole

Sep 26, 2023; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians relief pitcher James Karinchak (99) follows through on a pitch in the fifth inning against the Cincinnati Reds at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-Imagn Images / David Richard-Imagn Images

The Atlanta Braves' bullpen already looked very strong coming into spring training. In addition to bringing back trade deadline surprise standout Tyler Kinley as well as stalwart veteran Raisel Iglesias, the Braves surprised almost everyone when they went out and signed Robert Suarez. However, one bullpen signing that may have flown under the radar for some is showing signs of turning back into a high-leverage bullpen arm.

James Karinchak is not a completely unknown name coming into 2026. When he was with the Guardians, he garnered a lot of attention for racking up strikeouts and having eye-popping raw stuff before injury issues knocked him out for an extended period of time, and the Braves signed him for a bargain price this past offseason.

Based on what we are seeing in spring training, adding Karinchak could end up being in the conversation for the steal of the offseason.

James Karinchak looks like an absolute steal for the Braves down at spring training

Coming off a lingering shoulder injury that made his pre-existing command issues even worse, all skepticism of Karinchak's prospects with the Braves was fair. There are so many bullpen arms in baseball history that looked like can't-miss guys only to see injuries and/or inconsistency snuff their ascensions out before they got anywhere, and most would have put Karinchak in that bucket.

However, in an admittedly very small sample, Karinchak looks like he has returned to his former glory. In four innings of work this spring so far, Karinchak has not given up a run and has only given up a single hit and a pair of walks. The exciting part? The strikeouts appear to be back as he has punched out nine batters over that same span.

It is still early, and Karinchak is going to have to keep this up if he is going to make the team. However, he IS guaranteed $840,000 this year, which could convince the Braves to give him a shot, but he also has a minor league option, which could be a consideration. In short, there are a lot of moving parts right now, but Karinchak's hot start has definitely put him in the conversation.

Eric Cole

I started my career writing about baseball covering the Atlanta Braves for SB Nation's Talking Chop back in 2015 which has since been renamed Battery Power. After years of writing for those fine folks, I made the decision to take over as Site Expert at House That Hank Built before becoming a full-time MLB Staff Writer for FanSided in 2023. Along the way, I have been a guest on multiple ESPN radio affiliates as well as 680 The Fan and 92.9 The Game to discuss Braves baseball and especially Braves prospects and was a long-time host on the Battery Power podcast. These days, I continue to write about the Braves as well as covering the Astros, Padres, and Angels with particular expertise with minor league coverage, the MLB Draft, and bashing Anthony Rendon when possible. When I am not writing about or talking about baseball (which is seldom), I am an avid baseball card collector (Maddux and Soroka being my primary personal collections) and I also collect shark teeth. All other sports are mostly dead to me as my Bills have broken my heart too many times.