The Braves selected the contract of right-hander Elieser Hernández from Triple-A Gwinnett, per a team announcement. Lefty Connor Thomas was optioned to Gwinnett in his place.
It’s the second big league stint of the season with Atlanta for Hernández, the former Marlins hurler who spent the 2024-25 seasons with the Korea Baseball Organization’s LG Twins. Coincidentally, that’s the same team with which Carlos Carrasco signed earlier this month after jumping off the DFA carousel in Atlanta. Hernández could be stepping into that role as the Braves’ effective 41st man, though it remains to be seen if they’ll cycle him on and off the roster as much as they did with Carrasco (who was designated for assignment by Atlanta seven times in 11 months but repeatedly returned on new minor league deals).
Hernández pitched three shutout innings with the Braves during his earlier big league stint. He punched out two batters and walked three. The 31-year-old righty has pitched 76 1/3 innings with a 4.89 ERA, 21.6% strikeout rate and 8.1% walk rate in Gwinnett this season.
Earlier in his career, Hernández looked like an intriguing rotation option down in Miami. From 2020-21, he started 17 games (77 1/3 innings) and posted a 3.84 ERA with a 26.3% strikeout rate and 5.7% walk rate. He’s never replicated that production. In 81 MLB frames since, he’s been tagged for a 6.11 earned run average with markedly worse strikeout and walk rates.
Tonight’s game between the Braves and Mets has been postponed due to weather. They’ll play a doubleheader tomorrow, and Mark Bowman of MLB.com reports that the club is expected to activate righty AJ Smith-Shawver from the 60-day IL to start the first half of that twin bill. He’s been out since last season following UCL surgery. Hernández will give Atlanta some length behind Smith-Shawver in what’ll be his first MLB start in 14 months. He made five minor league rehab appearances but didn’t pitch more than 4 1/3 innings in any of those outings.
