With opening day approaching, the Atlanta Braves have finalized their opening day roster. For the most part, there are no surprises. However, one name will stand out to most, mainly because he came out of nowhere.

That unexpected arm on the pitching staff is Osvaldo Bido. The Braves claimed him off waivers on Tuesday. He was immediately placed on the roster.

He brings a five-pitch arsenal to the table: A four-seamer, a slider, a changeup, a cutter and a sinker. Last season, the fastball sat around 95 mph. Despite not inducing many ground balls, in the past, he’s had success at drawing weaker contact and having a low opponent’s barrel rate.

The Braves are somewhat familiar with him already. If you want to get technical, and we mean to the extreme, this is a reunion. Bido was claimed off waivers and was on the roster for about a week before being designated for assignment.

Since then, he’s been claimed by the Rays, Marlins, Angels and Yankees. His time with the Yankees was when he saw action in spring training. So, the fact that he got a spring training is something he has going for him. In seven appearances, he had a 1.29 ERA. He was mainly a reliever, and that’s probably how the Braves are going to use him for most of the season.

While he’s seen plenty of action as a starting pitcher, his track record shows more success if he works out of the bullpen. His career ERA is nearly run lower as a reliever than it is as a starter (4.57 vs 5.33).

There have been times when that difference is even more extreme. During the 2024 season, his ERA as a starter was 4.14, while his ERA as a reliever was 1.53. There is some evidence that could succeed out of the bullpen.

They should save him for low-stakes situations, at least to start. They have more proven options for when there are tough outs that need to be made. Bido can come in when there’s a cushion, and if he succeeds, then the Braves could put him in situations where the pressure is higher.

He could also be an option as a long reliever. Perhaps he could give the Braves two or three innings, at most, if a starter runs up his pitch count early or gets run out of the game early. There are some logical options for how to approach him as an option for the pitching staff.

If I had to pain the perfect example of when to use him, it’s when there is a blowout, and the Braves just need someone to go out there and get a few innings eaten up to avoid taxing the bullpen.

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