Since the All-Star break, the Atlanta Braves bullpen has been uninspiring at best. Even with Raisel Iglesias having a resurgent second half, and Pierce Johnson quietly putting together one of the better reliever performances by a Brave this century, the bullpen has been the second-worst in baseball in ERA.

As Atlanta continues the Gwinnett carousel, bringing up journeymen you’ll forget by before the 2025 playoffs are even over, the club has bafflingly neglected to call up the one reliever excelling in the minor leagues, Hayden Harris.

Braves should bring up top bullpen prospect Hayden Harris from minors

Since July 17, the middle of the Braves bullpen has been disastrous. While Tyler Kinley, Pierce Johnson, Raisel Iglesias, and even Aaron Bummer have all done their jobs, the relievers being shuffled up and down from Gwinnett (with the exception of Hunter Stratton), have been shelled.

Daysbel Hernandez had a 5.68 ERA and a 7.07 ERA before being sent back down. Austin Cox had a 12.46 ERA before getting sent back town. Enyel De Los Santos, Connor Seabold, Wander Suero all had ERAs over 13.50 before either being cut or sent back to the minor leagues.

Simply put, none of these options were getting things done for the Braves, which makes their refusal to call up Hayden Harris even more confusing. While Harris is not on the 40-man roster, he’s Rule 5 eligible this winter. Harris is also already 26, which means there’s no age considerations at play either.

Harris, an undrafted lefty who famously signed with help from LinkedIn, has been dominating the minors this season. In 47 innings across Double-A and Triple-A, he’s only allowed three runs all season.

While his 1.96 FIP is nearly a run-and-a-half worse than his 0.57 ERA, it would still be lower than all but two MLB relievers this season if he was able to replicate this success.

Harris currently has a 41.4% strikeout-rate and a 9.2% walk-rate, which suggested there’s some level of sustainability to keeping such a low ERA. Yet for whatever reason, he continues to be passed up by the Braves.

If the Braves objective to do have their bullpen fail while using pitchers who have no chance of sticking with the team next season, they should continue on the course they’ve been on for the last month-and-a-half. If the Braves want to at least use the remaining part of the 2025 season to see what weapons they have in the minors, they should call up Hayden Harris now.