The veteran hurler is among several recent signees in camp as non-roster invitees.
The Atlanta Braves have added Jake Diekman – another veteran, left-handed reliever – on a minor league deal with an invitation to Spring Training, per a report from the AJC’s Justin Toscano. Toscano also confirms that Chad Kuhl, whose signing occurred last week, and Dylan Covey will be in camp when Braves pitcher and catchers have their first workout tomorrow.
Chad Kuhl, Jake Diekman and Dylan Covey are in camp as non-roster invitees — now official and happened after Braves announced NRIs.
— Justin Toscano (@JustinCToscano) February 11, 2025
Diekman has appeared in 705 big league games, all in relief, and will now look to make Atlanta the tenth organization with whom he has appeared. Although he struggled in 43 games with the New York Mets last season, he struck out 11.3 batters per nine innings, in-line with his career average. He also walked 6.75 batter per nine inning, slightly higher than his career average and saw a drop in his four-seam fastball velocity.
The 38-year-old will try to carve out a role as the third left-handed in the Braves bullpen behind Aaron Bummer and Dylan Lee. Atlanta also has lefty Angel Perdomo returning from injury after missing the 2024 season as another potential bullpen option. Additionally, the Braves signed fellow veteran left-handed reliever Chasen Shreve on a minor league deal last month.
Covey is another experienced big league pitcher Atlanta has added to its organizational depth, with 100 games under his belt in the majors. He has also made 46 career starts, mostly at the beginning of his career with the Chicago White Sox where he produced sub-optimal results.
Kuhl will also look to provided Atlanta organizational depth as a pitcher with a copuous amount of experience starting. In 174 career big league games, he has made 117 starts, including 27 starts with the Colorado Rockies in 2022. The 32-year-old right-hander appeared in 31 games with the White Sox last season, including one start.