When the Atlanta Braves announced their first big offseason transaction, fans may have recognized newly signed reliever Evan Phillips from his years with the Dodgers, but others may still remember the righty's four games with Atlanta in 2018.
Phillips, who debuted with the Braves nine seasons ago, he struggled in his four July outings before he was traded to the Orioles for Kevin Gausman. After three seasons with Baltimore and a one-game stint with the Rays, Phillips found a home with the Dodgers over the last six seasons.
It's been over eight seasons since Phillips donned a Braves uniform, but believe it or not, it's not even the longest a Braves player has gone between their Braves stints.
4 Braves who went over a decade between their Braves stints
Craig Kimbrel - 11 years (3,904 days days between games)
Craig Kimbrel went 3,904 days between his official Braves appearances. His two stints could have have been more different. His first stint with the Braves spanned 294 games where he was the best reliever in baseball. His second stint lasted all of one big league game in June 2025, before he was unceremoniously designated for assignment.
Jesse Chavez - 11 years (3,982 days between games)
Jesse Chavez's two separate Braves tenures were almost the inverse of Kimbrel's. His first stint did last 28 games, but he was a forgottable long reliever at the time with a 5.89 ERA. When he was traded in July 2010, it was unthinkable that he'd achieve status as a Braves fan favorite.
esse Chavez re-emerged on June 24, 2021 andquickly acquired a cult following on the Braves. He was also inexplicably much better in his multiple stints in a Braves uniform than he was with any other team over the next five seasons.
Charlie Morton -13 years (4,577 days between games)
In a way, Charlie Morton had a very similar career journey as Jesse Chavez. Morton's first stint with the Braves came in 2008, where he struggled as a rookie. In early 2009, he was traded to the Pirates.
When he returned to the Braves in 2021, he had essentially already lived through three separate careers, as he went from a struggling sinker baller to a flame thrower over the course of the previous decade.
Like Chavez, Morton was much more successful as a Brave in the 2020s than he was in his first stint, and like Chavez he had multiple stints with the Braves. Like Kimbrel, Morton's final stint with the Braves was a one-gamer.
Darrell Evans -13 years (4,679 days between games)
Darrell Evans debuted with the Braves and then spent eight seasons with Atlanta. During that time, he was one of the better outfielders in baseball, accumulating over 24 bWAR. In 1976, the Braves traded him mid-season to the Giants, where he spent the next seven-and-a-half seasons, After a five-season stint with the Tigers, Evans returned to the Braves in 1989, 13 years after he had last played for his original franchise.
Evans struggled in his second go-around with the Braves, as he had a .658 OPS in 107 games.
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