With Joe Jimenez out for at least half of the season, adding a high leverage bullpen arm has become an unexpected need for the Atlanta Braves. While they already started adding bargain bin options, the team could also turn to the free agent market.
One under-the-radar option could be Tommy Kahnle, the former New York Yankees who went viral this past postseason for his very peculiar pitch selection.
In the midst of a tough game, let's appreciate Tommy Kahnle's changeup pic.twitter.com/PfU0OC5mgs
— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) October 17, 2024
Why Tommy Kahnle is a perfect fit for the Braves
Tommy Kahnle might be one of the most underrated relievers from the past three seasons. Since 2022, the righty has the 15th-lowest ERA among relievers with at least 90 innings. While his 4.04 FIP is significantly higher than his 2.44 ERA in that span, Kahnle has outperformed it every season by at least a full run.
According to Baseball Savant, his xERA is somewhere in the middle, showing that he does well limiting quality contact while maintaining a high strikeout rate.
Of course, what makes the 35-year-old particularly intriguing is his pitch selection. While Kahnle throws a fastball in the mid-90s, he hardly ever throws it, for good reason. Last season, batters hit .286 against it, while slugging .536.
Instead, Kahnle opts to throw his changeup 73% of the time. Even though batters know he's likely to throw the offspeed pitch three quarters of the time, they still struggle to barrel it up, hitting .157 and slashing .264. This postseason, Kahnle took his changeup usage to another level, throwing the pitch 61 consecutive times.
With his go-to pitch, the 35-year-old is able to strikeout 25.7% of the batters he faces. While he did struggle with walks this past season, his ability to keep balls on the ground help mitigate teams from doing damage on one swing.
Kahnle is only projected to get a two-year contract averaging $6.5 million per season, right up Alex Anthopoulos's preferred route when it comes to reliever contracts. This AAV would fall roughly in line with Aaron Bummer, who's contract the Braves renegotiated at the start of this offseason.
While Joe Jimenez was likely going to be one of the team's setup men, the club doesn't actually need a reliever to fill though shoes, though Kahnle is certainly capable. With Pierce Johnson and Dylan Lee as the setup men and Raisel Iglesias as the closer, the Braves just need a solid, reliable, middle innings arm.
For the price, Kahnle would be the perfect bridge to the late innings and make an already dominant bullpen even better.