The two pitchers are both injured with questionable returns for 2025.
The Atlanta Braves transaction page shows that pitchers Ray Kerr and Royber Salinas have re-signed with the Braves on minor league contracts. Both pitchers were free agents after Atlanta declined to keep them on the 40-man roster earlier this month.
Kerr appeared in 10 games, with two starts, before his season ended with “Tommy John” surgery on his left elbow in July. The 30 year-old lefty will likely miss most, if not all, of the 2025 season while recovering from his injury.
Salinas was a Braves international free agent signing in 2018 and was part of the package that went to Oakland in the trade that returned catcher Sean Murphy to Atlanta. He has yet to appear at the MLB-level and was signed by Atlanta after the Athletics placed him on waivers after the season. He is likely to miss much of the 2025 season after undergoing shoulder surgery.
The right-handed Salinas, who will turn 24 in April, has registered high strikeout rates throughout his minor league career.
Kerr showed some promise after coming to Atlanta from the San Diego Padres in what amounted to a salary dump of Matt Carpenter by the Padres last December. Kerr was used mainly as a multi-inning reliever with his two worst outing with the Braves coming in starts.
Like Salinas, Kerr has a history of a high strikeout rate at both the minor and major league level since 2021. Kerr has totaled 39 games in parts of three seasons in MLB appearing in 29 games combined between the 2022 and 2023 season with the Padres.
Last week the Braves also signed free agent minor league pitcher Kolton Ingram to a minor league deal. The diminutive left-hander stands at only 5’ 9” but appeared in five games with the Los Angeles Angels in 2023. A Stockbridge, GA-native, Ingram has been with six different organizations in 2024 – pitching for four of them – during the 2024 minor league season.