Contrary to what many would like you to think, the Atlanta Braves remain in a good spot heading into the 2025 season. Sure, the current state of Atlanta’s roster this offseason relies heavily upon Spencer Strider and Ronald Acuna Jr. coming back healthy and strong, but all of the doom and gloom about the lack of moves by the Braves thus far has been a bit much. Still, there are areas of the roster that could use some reinforcement and we are in the home stretch of the offseason here.
One roster area in particular that has gotten increased attention of late is the Braves’ bullpen. Joe Jimenez is going to be out for at least the vast majority of the season, AJ Minter is a free agent, and Jesse Chavez may finally be done playing. On top of that, Raisel Iglesias is a free agent after the 2025 season. To say that there is uncertainty in the late innings of games right now in the short- and long-term is an understatement.
There has been some offseason chatter to think about here. A reunion with Minter remains possible assuming he is healthy enough and there has been a lot of speculation recently surrounding the Braves pursuing Tanner Scott. Both are fun options, but Braves beat writer Mark Bowman recently put out his Braves prospects to watch and a couple of them in particular could be factors in Atlanta’s bullpen plans.
Blake Burkhalter and Jhancarlos Lara could be interesting names to consider for the Braves bullpen plans in 2025
Relying on pitching prospects to progress as expected is a good way to be disappointed a lot, but both Burkhalter and Lara have a lot going for them. Burkhalter still has a chance to start after recovering from Tommy John surgery, but his mid-90’s fastball/cutter/changeup mix would really play up in a bullpen role with the added bonus that he can throw all of his pitches for strikes. Few things irritate the Braves more than relievers walking guys and Burkhalter being a college arm that limits free passes could be appealing enough to try him out in the bullpen.
Lara is a risky bet, but he also has massive upside in the bullpen and the guy most likely to end up there despite the Braves’ attempts to use him as a starter in the minors. Lara only has two pitches, but they are big-time offerings as his fastball routinely hits the upper 90’s and could threaten triple digits especially in shorter stints. He also throws a hard slider that is basically unhittable when he is on. The downside is that he does have some issues finding the strike zone, although one wonders if he could expend more effort commanding his stuff when he only has to throw an inning at a time.
Jhancarlos Lara during his live BP session yesterday.
FB 98 🔥
FB 99 🔥
SL 90
FB 98 🔥
SL 90 pic.twitter.com/TUotOvpFMu— Luis Santos-Bejarán (@Lmbejaran) March 4, 2024
The safest bet is that the Braves will add at least one proven reliever this offseason. Alex Anthopoulos values having a deep bullpen highly and has shown a willingness to spend a bit to add relief help. However, don’t be surprised if Burkhalter and/or Lara show up as reinforcements at some point this coming season.
