When Billy Wagner was finally elected to the Hall of Fame in his 10th and final year of eligibility, Braves fans were unsurprisingly excited for their former closer. The lefty was so dominant during his Atlanta Braves tenure that it was easy to forget he spent one season with the club.
With one one-season Braves legend reaching Cooperstown, we thought it would be fun to look back at a few other one-season Atlanta Braves pitchers who shined in their lone season with the team.
Here are 4 of the best one-season Braves pitchers ever
Billy Wagner
Starting with the man himself, it’s hard to overstate just how good Wags was in his only season with the Braves.
Coming off an injury shortened season recovering from Tommy John surgery, Atlanta was still confident enough in the 38-year-old that they were willing to lose a first-round pick to sign the closer instead of re-signing Mike Gonzalez or keeping Rafael Soriano, who accepted arbitration
This turned out to be the right choice, even with Soriano, who Atlanta eventually traded for future Braves legend, Jesse Chavez, having a sub-2 ERA.
In 69.1 innings, Billy Wagner had a career-best 1.43 ERA, which was also (at the time) the fifth-lowest ERA by a Braves reliever since moving to Atlanta.
His work in the pen might be one of the biggest factors in the team making the playoffs, as they won the Wild Card by one game.
Wagner retired before Spring Training 2011, even though he was coming off this excellent season and was under contract with Atlanta for one more year.
Javier Vazquez
While his 2009 is mostly forgotten by Braves fans now, Javier Vazquez was genuinely one of the best starting pitchers in baseball in his single season with Atlanta.
After being acquired from the White Sox along with Boone Logan in exchange for Brent Lillibridge, Tyler Flowers, Jon Gilmore, and Santos Rodriguez, Vazquez would quickly become the co-ace of the staff along with Jair Jurrjens.
In 219.1 innings, Vazquez had a 2.87 ERA and 2.77 FIP, striking out 238 batters in the process. He was seventh in fWAR with 5.9 and 11th in bWAR with 6.2.
For his efforts, the righty finished fourth in NL Cy Young voting, but would be shipped out with Boone Logan (again) for one of the most hated Braves of all-time, Mike Dunn, and Arodys Vizcaino.
Shelby Miller
Shelby Miller was the gift that kept on giving for Atlanta. Acquired in the trade that started the Braves rebuild, the 25-year-old was one of the few bright spots in a 2015 season that didn’t have many.
In his 33 starts, Miller put up his career best season with a 3.02 ERA and 3.45 FIP. He was also selected to his first (and only) All-Star appearance that season.
Rather than hold on to the young righty, the Braves were somehow able to convince Dave Stewart to give the Braves a Gold Glove caliber center fielder, a top pitching prospect, and the first overall pick from the 2015 draft, Dansby Swanson.
While Aaron Blair never quite panned out, Swanson and Ender Inciarte provied Atlanta with a combined 17.7 fWAR. Meanwhile, Miller’s tenure in Arizona was disasterous, as he had just a 0.7 fWAR in his three seasons in the dessert.
Chris Hammond
In July of 2001, the Atlanta Braves signed a 35-year-old who hadn’t pitched in the majors since 1998. Chris Hammond had struggled with injuries and even retired briefly.
While he didn’t make the team in the 2001 season, the Braves added him to the Opening Day roster in 2002, and he ended up having one of the greatest seasons by a reliever in MLB history.
The lefty pitched 63 games, accumulated 76 innings, and only allowed eight earned runs the entire season. His 0.95 ERA is the 23rd-best ERA since 1901 of any pitcher with at least 40 innings pitched.
This comeback aided Hammond in getting a two-year, $4.6 million deal from the Yankees, ending Hammond’s tenure with the Braves after just one season.
