Atlanta’s bullpen has been a source of strength and stability over the past couple of years, but there’s more uncertainty for their relief corps in 2025.
In the past two years combined, Atlanta Braves relievers rank in the top five in ERA (fifth), FIP (second), K% (first), and BB% (third). It’s been undeniably one of the top bullpens in baseball ever since the Night Shift marched them to a World Series in 2021. Entering 2025, however, the bullpen has more question marks than we’ve seen Alex Anthopoulos allow in quite some time. Joe Jiménez’s knee surgery will keep him out of action until at least the All Star Break, if not all season, and bullpen stalwart A.J. Minter is now wearing a Mets uniform.
We’ll go one by one here to see who the Braves will be rolling with this year.
Raisel Iglesias
Iggy has been a staple in the Braves bullpen since the 2022 Trade Deadline, and he’s been exceptional the whole way. Among qualified relievers since August of 2022, Iggy ranks second in ERA, sixth in FIP, and seventh in fWAR. Since taking over as Atlanta’s closer in 2023, Iggy is tied with Josh Hader for the second-most saves in the sport. For his career, there has only been one season as a reliever that he has ever posted an ERA above 2.75 – 2019, the year of the even more juiced ball.
2024 was tremendous for Iggy, as he posted a career low 1.95 ERA and 2.24 xERA. Some have had concerns about his strikeout rate dropping to 26.3%, but his 31.9% CSW and 15.5% SwStr were both above his career marks that have contributed to a career 29.5% K. I’d expect a bit of a bounceback in that department, and while it isn’t wise to project a sub-2.00 ERA again, Iggy’s about as safe a bet as you can place for any reliever in the sport.
Dylan Lee
I’m placing Dylan Lee second here because I think he may become the de facto 8th inning man for the Braves relatively early in the season. Brian Snitker has said in recent weeks that Lee is “ready to take the next step,” and if you follow me on Twitter or read any of my writing here at Battery Power, you’ll know that I agree.
After an injury-shortened 2023 that saw his effectiveness wane, Lee returned to dominance in 2024. On his way to a 2.11 ERA and 2.57 xERA, he may have actually been unlucky to only strike out 31.7% of the hitters he faced, given that he had the 2nd highest SwStr% in MLB (behind only Josh Hader). I’ll never stop shouting from the rooftops that he is currently the greatest pitcher in recorded history at generating chases outside the strike zone.
Lee’s performed at this level while being largely relegated to low and medium leverage situations, but the Braves will be counting on him for a much larger role in 2025.
Aaron Bummer
Bummer had one of the most underrated reliever seasons in 2024. His 3.58 ERA was solid, but everything under the surface suggests he’s one of the best in the game. His 2.23 FIP ranked 7th among all qualified relievers and his 2.80 xERA matched that of the NL Cy Young Award winner and his teammate, Chris Sale.
If you’re looking for a reason behind the discrepancy in his ERA and peripherals, look no further than his batted ball luck. Despite having the lowest barrel rate in MLB at 0.8% and a 90th percentile hard hit rate, Bummer allowed a .386 BABIP that was 15 points higher than the next highest in MLB. Among qualified relievers, the difference between Bummer’s BABIP and the 10th highest BABIP was about the same as the difference between the 10th highesst BABIP and the 53rd highest BABIP.
Like Lee, the Braves are going to need to rely on Bummer even more in 2025 than they did in 2024. He could also be a candidate to fill the 8th inning role behind closer Raisel Iglesias, but with his high strikeout and ground ball rates, he may be better utilized in a more versatile role where he can enter mid-inning to get the team out of a jam.
Pierce Johnson
It was a tale of two seasons for Johnson in 2024. For the first four months, he was brilliant, posting a 32.2% K%, 2.78 ERA, and 2.63 FIP. When the calendar flipped to August, however, Johnson stumbled badly, pitching to a 5.23 ERA and 5.30 FIP while seeing his K% drop to 21.8% and his HR/9 jump all the way to 1.74. It all culminated in that fateful game 161 vs. the Mets, when he was called upon to save the game after the Braves had memorably rallied back against Edwin Díaz following the uncharacteristic blow-ups of Jiménez and Iglesias. Trying to protect a one-run lead, Pierce gave up a weak single to Starling Marte and coughed up a decisive two-run HR to superstar Francisco Lindor.
The Braves are hoping Johnson will regain his form in 2025 and claim the role of top right-handed setup man. He certainly has the stuff to thrive in high leverage when he’s on his game. In 4 2⁄3 IP this spring, he has five strikeouts, no walks, no homers, and just one earned run. Hopefully that’s a sign that he is back to his normal self.
Daysbel Hernández
Should Johnson falter, Daysbel Hernández has been identified by the Braves brass as someone who may be able to step up and fill a big role. He was brilliant with Atlanta last season, posting a 35.1% K, 2.50 ERA, and 2.11 FIP in 18 IPinnings across several separate stints with the big club. He was particularly brilliant in high leverage spots and pitched 2.1 scoreless innings with one walk and three strikeouts in his lone career playoff appearance against San Diego.
Hernandez will likely always run a high walk rate, but if he can continue racking up strikeouts and stay off the barrel, he’d be exactly the type of arm that the Braves tend to target – similar, in that regard, to Pierce Johnson. He has options, but given the way Alex Anthopoulos and Brian Snitker have talked about him this winter, and given that he’s already 28 years old, I don’t think he will begin the season in Triple-A.
The early season options for the other three spots
When it comes to how the Braves plan to round out their bullpen, the picture has become a bit clearer in recent days. In terms of who is out to begin the season – Jake Diekman and Buck Farmer have been reassigned to Triple-A, but they will be veteran options that can be called upon during the season should the need arise, provided they actually stick around in the organization. Anderson Pilar has been returned to the Marlins, and Angel Perdomo – who was top five in MLB in strikeout rate the last time he pitched in the big leagues – was traded to the Angels for cash considerations after a lackluster spring training.
For the start of the season, that leaves Héctor Neris and Enyel De Los Santos as two likely pieces of the puzzle. Neris and De Los Santos both had good results in 2023 but terrible ones in 2024, so the Braves are hoping for bouncebacks there. (Neris at least managed contact and had few homers allowed in 2023, even though his peripherals had already started to slide; De Los Santos’ 2023 was good solely due to HR/FB.) Neris’s splitter-forward repertoire makes him a good fit to face lefties in situations that don’t call for top arms like Bummer or Lee. De Los Santos has been terrific this spring with a K% north of 30%, GB% north of 50%, and BB% under 5%. He had a 3.18 ERA and 3.10 FIP as a member of the Guardians bullpen from 2022-2023 before stumbling in 2024 and may be able to stick in a low to medium leverage role in 2025. He’s never been a contact manager and again, his xFIP has been bad for two years now, but every middle reliever has issues anyway.
As for the final spot, who knows what will happen. Absent his sub-3.00 ERA, Ian Anderson has looked absolutely terrible this spring, leading the league in BB% by a mile. Conversely, AJ Smith-Shawver has had a very compelling spring, so I tend to think the Braves may try Anderson in a mop-up role in the bullpen for the first few weeks of the season until reinforcements arrive and he ultimately gets traded or DFAed. They aren’t likely to start AJSS in the bullpen, so if they’d prefer to start him in the minors and have Anderson in the rotation, they may consider adding Farmer to the 40-man for the last bullpen spot or just bringing up one of their minor league depth starters that are already on the 40-man like Bryce Elder, Davis Daniel, or Dylan Dodd.
Craig Kimbrel
Kimbrel is back in Atlanta after signing a minor league deal this week that will pay him $2M if he is in the majors. A Braves legend and potential Hall of Famer, Kimbrel was available at this price because of a disastrous second half last year. He’s not pumping 98+ anymore, but his fastball still grades out as a plus pitch on most stuff models, and his knuckle curve continues to destroy hitters across the board. In 223 IP from the start of 2021 through the first half of 2024, he was still quite effective with 35.0% K, 0.89 HR/9, 2.95 ERA, and 3.08 FIP. Even in his age 37 season, he may still have something substantial to offer.
Speculating hard here, but Kimbrel might be due for a pitch mix change. Results on his fastball have deteriorated as he’s aged, but he’s continued to throw it more than 65% of the time, about as much as he did ten years ago. If he can command his wicked knuckle curve enough to use it earlier in counts, don’t be surprised if the Braves have him throwing it more like 50% of the time.
Grant Holmes
Holmes will be fully entrenched in the rotation to begin the year, but it’s certainly possible he finds his way back to the bullpen at some point. If, say, the Braves are getting very good starts from AJ Smith-Shawver at the beginning of the season, the team’s may get the most use out of Holmes as a higher-leverage multi-inning righty out of the pen once Spencer Strider returns sometime in April.
Holmes was a pleasant surprise in his debut season, posting a 19.5% K-BB, 3.56 ERA, and 3.46 xERA while splitting his innings pretty evenly between the rotation and bullpen. His 16.4% SwStr and 30.0% CSW were both very encouraging – in fact, the SwStr% was a top 10 mark in all of baseball (min. 60 IP), and the rest of the names in the top 10 were basically some of the sport’s best relievers and Blake Snell.
Joe Jiménez
As we mentioned earlier, Jiménez is recovering from a late October knee surgery. The timeline that was given for recovery was 8-12 months. On the optimistic end of that timeline, he could be back a little before the All-Star break. Alternatively, it’s possible he misses all of 2025.
Jiménez is under contract through 2026, and the Braves will hope he’s as effective when he returns as he has been so far in a Braves uniform. In his two years with Atlanta, Jiménez has a 30.1% K, 7.2% BB, 2.81 ERA, and 2.90 FIP. He’s an absolute weapon when he’s going well.
Minor leaguers with potential
There are three near-MLB ready minor leaguers that stand out the most to me as being impactful options later this year.
RHP Domingo Gonzalez is already on the 40-man, and he had a superlative 2024 season. Splitting time between AA and AAA, Gonzalez struck out an astounding 38.8% of batters while walking just over 10%. He had a 2.91 ERA and 2.75 FIP and reportedly sports a filthy slider that should play at the MLB level.
RHP Rolddy Muñoz is another minor league arm with some intriguing potential. Like Gonzalez, he carries a K% well over 30% while also struggling with walks. Overall, he used a fastball-slider combo to post a 2.65 FIP in 51 IP between A+ and AA in 2024. Muñoz is also on the 40-man, so he’ll have a chance to crack the roster if he’s performing well and a spot becomes available.
LHP Hayden Harris is a bit of an enigma. He averages around 92 mph with his fastball but throws it often. He pairs one of the lowest release points in the minors with a terrific riding movement that seems to consistently fool hitters. He continued to rack up strikeouts at a clip above 30% but struggled overall after a promotion to AAA in 2024. As a lefty, he may have a chance to crack Atlanta’s bullpen if he performs well in Gwinnett.
Beyond those three, there are some other depth options that haven’t been mentioned yet who don’t inspire much confidence. LHP Chasen Shreve (originally with the Braves) has logged innings at the major league level in each of the last 11 seasons. RHPs Wander Suero, Enoli Paredes, Jordan Weems, and Dylan Covey have all seen time in MLB in recent seasons. RHP Amos Willingham carries a bit of intrigue since he is on the 40-man roster – he’s had a good spring with 6 strikeouts and just 1 walk in 4.1 innings of work.
Outlook
Right now, the Braves bullpen is projected by FanGraphs to be a borderline top 5 unit by WAR and top 3 bullpen by FIP. I’m not quite that bullish on them, but I do think they’re being underrated by many in the fanbase. As relievers go, Iglesias, Lee, and Bummer seem like mostly sure things. Johnson feels like a better bet than most team’s 4th RP to be a legitimate high-leverage arm. Hernández and Kimbrel both offer a good amount of upside, and the combination of serviceable arms with experience and upside relievers in the minors is enviable. Even de los Santos and Neris come with at least some level of intrigue and a notable amount of MLB success.
Ultimately, what this group needs to be great isn’t all that crazy to imagine. At least three of Iglesias, Bummer, Lee, and Johnson need to be what we expect them to be. At least one of Kimbrel, Daysbel, de los Santos, and Neris need to become an impactful arm, and maybe one more of those needs to be at least decent. After that, they’ll likely shuffle guys in and out as they try to identify who else can make a difference at the big league level.
One thing’s for sure: If things go sideways in the opening months of the season, Alex Anthopoulos won’t be shy about making a meaningful addition to the bullpen at the deadline.