In each series throughout the season, we will highlight multiple players who wore a Braves jersey and also suited up for Atlanta’s most recent opponent. The Braves are currently in the final game of their series with the Pirates and it's been a rough one for Atlanta. However, they have a chance to salvage a win in the series finale.
Let's take a look back on three players who once called Atlanta and the Steel City home at some point in their careers. As always, there are always several options we could choose but we typically like to stay on the obscure side and bring back memories you may have forgotten. You are probably thinking of Nate Mcclouth or Adam LaRoche but what about these three?
Jose Bautista
Jose Bautista is remembered as a Toronto Blue Jay since he spent 10 of his 15 years in Major League Baseball north of the border. Believe it or not, between the other five years, Bautista saw time with the Pittsburgh Pirates and Atlanta Braves.
From 2004 to 2007, Bautista was a member of the Pirates. Over this stretch, he appeared in exactly 400 games where he hit .241 with 43 home runs and 159 runs batted in.
Fast forward to over a decade later in 2018 and Bautista was fighting to stay in the big leagues and landed a job with the Atlanta Braves. Unfortunately, this experiment didn't last as he was let go after just 12 games. In that short span, he hit .143 with 2 home runs.
Chase d'Arnaud
The brother of Braves' current catcher, Travis d'Arnaud, Chase d'Arnaud had a 7-year big league career in which he spent time with both the Pirates and the Braves.
Chase was with Pittsburgh from 2011-2014. He was used as a utility player and appeared in 64 games where he hit .208 and stole 13 bags.
With the Braves in their final stages of a rebuild back in 2016-2017, Chase d'Arnaud quickly became a fan favorite. He played in 95 games for the Braves and hit .249 with one home run and 21 runs driven. However, the most unique thing Chase did while in Atlanta was not on the baseball diamond. After a Braves game one night, Chase d'Arnaud played a free concert for fans with his band.
He last played at the big league level in 2018 with the San Francisco Giants.
Shelby Miller
Braves fans know Shelby Miller real well from the 2015 season as it was one of the most bizarre years for a starting pitcher in MLB history.
In his lone season with Atlanta, Miller posted a 6-17 record (leading all of baseball in losses) but earned an All-Star Game appearance thanks to an ERA of 3.02. The team just couldn't give him run support, no matter how hard they tried. Miller was the piece that Atlanta sent to the D-backs for Dansby Swanson and Ender Inciarte, still viewed as one of the most lopsided trades ever.
In 2021, Miller joined with the Pittsburgh Pirates for a very brief stint. He tossed only 10.2 innings with the Bucs, all of the relief variety. His ERA climbed to over 5 during this stretch and he struck out seven batters in those 10 appearances.