It has been a tough stretch for the Atlanta Braves' pitching staff. A lot of it has been due to pretty standard small sample size bad luck on balls in play, but it is hard to deny that several of the Braves' arms look tired and haven't been commanding their pitches as well as they usually do.
Again, this isn't strange. Baseball seasons are long and guys ARE tired and aren't at their best or most healthy right now. Fortunately for the Braves, a familiar face is making his return from the injured list who should help out considerably as long as he can continue to fight off Father Time.
#Braves activated RHP Jesse Chavez from the 60-day IL and DFA'd LHP Lucas Luetge.
— Grant McAuley (@grantmcauley) September 19, 2023
Nick Anderson, Daysbel Hernández, and Collin McHugh will all begin rehab assignments with Triple-A Gwinnett tonight.
Braves activate Jesse Chavez from injured list, DFA Lucas Luetge
With the recent struggles of middle relief guys like Michael Tonkin lately, getting Jesse Chavez could be a huge deal assuming he is his usual self. While rehabbing from a bone bruise and micro-fracture in his shin, Chavez certainly looked very good as he did not give up an earned run in three rehab appearances at Gwinnett with six strikeouts in 3.1 innings of work. That'll play if Jesse can be that guy out of the bullpen the rest of the way.
As for Luetge, he has struggled to be useful bullpen arm in 2023 with a 7.24 ERA and 4.87 FIP in 12 appearances this season. Having the extra lefty in the bullpen was nice, but he wasn't exactly doing that job well.
As Grant notes, Chavez isn't the only guy on the comeback trail for the Braves bullpen as Nick Anderson, Daysbel Hernandez, and Collin McHugh are all out on rehab assignment right now. Even if a couple of those guys can't get right in time, it definitely seems like the Braves will have some bullpen reinforcements coming back just in time for the postseason and that can't hurt.