Today, I’ll be picking up this series of updated free agent wish lists for the Braves, moving on to the pitching staff, and beginning with the bullpen. The Braves haven’t done much this offseason so far, but they have added a couple of relief arms in Darren O’Day and Kirby Yates. However, there’s no guarantee either of those players will contribute in 2022. O’Day was signed to a minor-league deal, and Yates is coming off Tommy John Surgery, so it’s very possible the Braves invest some more into their bullpen this offseason, and there are still several arms I would love to add.
If you missed the first two parts of this series, click the links below:
Collin McHugh
McHugh is a guy I have mentioned several times already this offseason. He’s a Georgia native, and FanGraphs only projects him to fetch a one-year, $5 million contract this offseason. That’s a steal for a player that posted a 1.55 ERA, 0.938 WHIP, and 10.4 K/9 in 2021.
Jesse Chavez
It might just be a minor-league deal, but I would love to have Chavez back for another season. The 38-year-old journeyman was a savior for the Braves bullpen last season, recording a 2.14 ERA and 1.010 WHIP over 33.2 innings, and he shouldn’t cost more than a million or two.
Joe Kelly
I’m not sure if the Braves want to spend as much as it will cost to bring in an arm like Joe Kelly, but I would love to add him to the bullpen. He posted a 1.80 ERA during the shortened 2020 campaign and a 2.86 ERA last season over 44 innings. Kelly’s also a guy who shows up when the lights are the brightest in the postseason. Over 58.1 playoff innings, he has a 3.55 ERA.
Adam Ottavino
Another guy that will likely garner a multi-year contract, Ottavino’s surface numbers haven’t been as good over the last two seasons, but his advanced statistics show he’s still very much the same guy that dominated the league from 2016-2019. Last season, Ottavino was in the top-5% of Hard Hit%, top-10% of xSLG, and top-7% of Average Exit Velocity.
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