🔥 BRAVES SPOTLIGHT REVEALED: The 2025 Player Review on Michael Petersen Uncovers a Season of Breakout Moments, High-Pressure Performances, and Sneaky Value That Atlanta May Be Counting On Even More in 2026 — A deep dive fans won’t want to miss as his role quietly grows bigger than anyone expected.

We’ve kept saying it in some of these earlier reviews: the Atlanta Braves set a record this past season for the number of players used in a single season. Michael Petersen was one of the many players the Braves relied on for a short period of time while dealing with injuries. It was interesting how little he was used, considering the state of injuries and that his overall results were not terrible, all things considered.

How acquired

On April 1, the Braves traded the most traded commodity of all-time, cash considerations, to the Angels for Michael Petersen and then stashed him away at Triple-A. (None of this was a joke, despite the date.) That was the latest in a bit of a whirlwind for Petersen, who was claimed by the Marlins from the Dodgers in September 2024, then claimed by the Blue Jays two months later, and then claimed by the Angels three months after that. Basically, the Braves were his fifth organization in eight months.

Unlike some of the later additions in the season, Petersen was brought in early. Because it was early he was added as depth prior to many injuries. It is a minor difference from other arms added, but it is worth noting. The Front Office saw something in Petersen that garnered bringing him in outside of desperation.

Fun fact: Petersen is the only active MLB player born in the United Kingdom, and the first since P.J. Conlon threw some pitches for the Mets back in 2018 — though Conlon was from Belfast, and yeah, we’re gonna sidestep that whole issue right about now…

A different fun fact: Petersen was actually drafted in four consecutive seasons. He was originally drafted in the 19th round of the 2012 MLB Draft, but went to college. After that, he was taken in the 31st round, the 24th round, and finally in the 17th round before he signed.

What were the expectations?

It is safe to say that since all it took to bring in Petersen was cash, and that he was instantly stashed in Triple-A, the expectations were not high. His addition was purely for depth reasons. Joe Jiménez was already out for likely the entire season with a previous injury at the time, so the Braves were likely happy to add another relief arm. There were also injuries already in the rotation with Reynaldo Lopez and Spencer Strider out, but Petersen did not fit the mold to fill their shoes in the rotation.

Petersen made his MLB debut as a 30-year-old in 2024, where he bounced around the Dodgers and Marlins and put up a pretty poor major league line of 144/133/148 (ERA-/FIP-/xFIP-) in 19 2/3 innings. He was, however, much better as a short-stint reliever for the Dodgers’ Triple-A club in 2024, which is probably what drove any interest in him from the teams that have sought his services since. Still, he was firmly in “replacement level reliever you get off the waiver wire” territory. Notably, Petersen had multiple option years and was still jettisoned from organization to organization, so he didn’t even fit the mold of “decent depth guy we can stash in the minors until he runs out of option years.”

2025 results

Petersen’s appearances were sporadic, because the Braves yo-yoed him quite a bunch. He came up on April 13, and went down a day later. Then he came up on April 21, and went down a day later. May 29? Up one day, down the next. He lasted two days on the roster in June, and was designated for assignment in mid-July.

Unlike some other guys, the Braves did actually use him, though, as only one of those brief stints came and went without him getting into a game. All in all, the results were perfectly fine for a last-guy-on-the-roster type. In 6 2/3 innings across four appearances, he had a 96/11/106 line. That’s not a guy you actively want in your bullpen, but it’s not a disaster depth-wise.

In the middle of the season, the Braves DFAed Petersen, and he went back to the Marlins in exchange for cash considerations. He pitched 11 1/3 innings for Miami, and his aggregate season line ended up at 94/111/108. He was consistent in pitching like a 0-WAR guy in small samples, basically.

What went right?

During Petersen’s short tenure with the Braves, he made four appearances. Two of those were excellent with no notes, and a third was marred by stuff he couldn’t control. His stats only got nasty because the Phillies roughed him up in a long relief stint in June. That first appearance was particularly great as he went six up, six down against the Rays with a strikeout. He then had a really good first six outings with the Marlins, with a 9/3 K/BB ratio over 6 1/3 innings, but four of his last five outings of the season were really rough.

What went wrong?

His rough outings were quite bad. But, one thing worth noting is that the Braves really used him in four blowout losses, so what he did didn’t really matter. Three of the four times he pitched was in a blowout (twice when the Braves were being blown out), the other time was still a four-run difference. In a funny turnabout, the Marlins started feeding him greater leverage situations. Still, it’s hard to say that any specific pitch or batter was particularly good or bad when he was with the Braves, because he was pitching basically the most garbage time-y innings imaginable.

On a pitch basis, you won’t be surprised to learn that Petersen struggled horribly with command, especially with his cutter. His pitch shapes are actually pretty great, and he can get the fastball towards 98 mph. He just has no real ability to repeat his mechanics and make any pitch go where he wants it to, and the fact that he’s around the zone is a double-edged sword because it means hitters will find plenty of mistakes to hit. Combine that with the fact that his pitches generally result in contact in the air, and he’s in the danger zone in all sorts of ways.

2026 outlook

Petersen is still under team control with the Marlins, though it remains to be seen whether he sticks with them or goes on another whirlwind tour of North America, courtesy of the waiver wire. He still has a minor league option year, so the Marlins could stash him in the minors if they want, but he will take up a 40-man roster spot. Maybe he continues to sop up higher-leverage innings in their bullpen, though that seems unlikely. In any case, he’s a replacement-level reliever through and through until he shows some ability to hit spots consistently.