The Atlanta Braves have needed to play musical chairs with their bullpen lately. That's to be expected throughout an MLB season. However, it feels like the Braves have needed to rely on it a bit more than they'd like to. In the offseason, they made sure to add a lot of tenured relievers on minor league deals to help with their depth.
After the chaos that was 2025, it was safe to load up on pitching just in case. One of those additions was right-hander James Karinchak. Karinchak had experience at the MLB level with the Guardians. He is well-known for his high-energy presence on the mound and fantastic induced vertical break on his fastball.
Luckily, he has remained healthy for the Braves this season and started strong at Triple-A. However, for whatever reason, Atlanta was hesitant to call him up until after Tyler Kinley landed on the 15-day IL on June 10th. Since being called up, he's only pitched in six games and never on back-to-back days. He's pitched really well over 6.2 innings, with a 0.00 ERA, two walks, and six strikeouts.
However, the right-hander's most recent appearance was a scoreless outing against the Padres on June 24th. It's now been six days since he last pitched. That doesn't give a lot of comfort about their belief in him or his potential health.
Braves reliever James Karinchak hasn't pitched in a while, and that probably isn't ideal news
Karinchak started the season with Triple-A Gwinnett after signing with the Braves in December. He missed all of the 2024 season with shoulder inflammation. He spent half the 2025 season in the White Sox minor league system, but was released that June.
The only interesting thing that could be a factor here is that the Braves are giving him multiple days off between starts. His first appearance was on June 10th, and he didn't appear in his second game until four days later. Karinchak's next three appearances were all two days apart. If Atlanta just want to preserve his arm and only use him in games they are winning, the disappearing act makes some sense.
Fans would be right to be anxious because a similar thing happened with Robert Suarez. He wasn't utilized in the Padres series once, and then it was revealed he was dealing with inflammation in his elbow.
The Braves may think this is the best way to help Karinchak be successful. However, it doesn't give a ton of confidence to fans and only breeds speculation. Hopefully, this is a nothing burger, and he pitches again soon. But it is a very interesting pattern to notice.
Add us as a preferred source on Google