Braves News: Daysbel Hernandez up to Atlanta, Winans to Triple-A, Chavez to 60-day IL

One of the hottest pitchers in the Atlanta Braves system has been called up to the major leagues (and no I’m not talking about the Louisana hot sauce promo). Right-handed relief pitcher Daysbel Hernández has been called up to Atlanta to join their depleted bullpen.

To make room the Braves optioned last night’s starting pitcher Allan Winans back to Triple-A Gwinnett and transferred Jesse Chavez to the 60-day IL. Winans was solid in his major league debut going 4.1 innings of two-run ball. However, with the off days this week the Braves don’t have a need for a fifth starter in the coming week so this move made the most sense.

Yesterday we got an injury update on four different Atlanta pitchers, and all were positive except for the notes we got on Jesse Chavez. Unfortunately, his shin contusion is still healing at a slower pace. As a result the Braves transferred Chavez to the 60-day IL, with the expectation he could rejoin the team in late August.

As for the 26 year-old Hernandez, he has been piling up the strikeouts across the minor leagues this season. Over his past five appearances he has struck out 17 of the 23 batters he has faced.

The hard-throwing Cuban reliever has pitched across three different minor league levels in 2023. In 22 innings of work he has a 2.05 ERA with 32 strikeouts. He offers one of the few things this Braves bullpen doesn’t really have, that being a flamethrower from the right-hand side. Hernandez touched north of 97 mph in his last outing with Gwinnett.

Manager Brian Snitker said Hernandez could have been part of the 2022 Braves bullpen had he not been recovering from his Tommy John surgery. This is an important week for all Braves relievers as Alex Anthopoulos gets a good look at each guy it allows him to decide if he needs to make a move at the MLB trade deadline for another bullpen piece.