dez The Atlanta Braves had recently made it clear that one of their right-handed pitchers wouldn’t be a part of their quest to make a deep October playoff run.
That pitcher has now made it clear that he doesn’t see himself as part of the Braves’ future.
Atlanta is playing the biggest game of its season on Thursday when it takes on the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 3 of the best-of-three NL Wild Card Series. One team will advance, and the other will go home for the offseason.
But flying under the radar on the day of the game was the news that Elieser Hernandez is no longer part of the organization.
Elieser Hernandez News
The Braves designated Hernandez for assignment ahead of the Wild Card Series.
They did that DFA maneuver to remove Hernandez from the 40-man roster. They needed space to add Rowdy Tellez and Luke Williams to the 40-man.
Hernandez then had to pass through waivers, but he evidently did that. He now is shown as a free agent on his MLB.com page, according to MLB Trade Rumors.
It had been a goofy second half of the season for Hernandez, who was called up four different times by the Braves but never stuck around for longer than a week.
He got 12 innings with Atlanta and had a 2.25 ERA. That included two pitching wins and a three-inning save.
Hernandez kept up a rate of 9.8 strikeouts per nine innings, although he also walked 4.5 batters per nine — not an ideal ratio.
The Braves decided that Hernandez wasn’t a logical piece in their bullpen to take on the Phillies, and so he was DFA’d to make room for others.
That doesn’t mean he couldn’t end up back with Atlanta down the road, but at least as of Thursday, he’s a free agent.
Elieser Hernandez Career
Elieser Hernandez is a 31-year old right-handed pitcher originally from Venezuela.
He debuted with the Miami Marlins way back in the 2018 season, and Hernandez has made 49 starts in his MLB career out of 104 total appearances.
He had a 3.16 ERA for the Marlins in the shortened 2020 season, then a 4.18 ERA for Miami in 2021.
Hernandez’s first five MLB seasons, from 2018 through 2022, were spent with the Marlins.
He didn’t pitch in the majors in 2023, then returned to the MLB level in 2024 with the Dodgers (5 games, 8.38 ERA) and Brewers (4 games, 3.00 ERA).
And now this season, Hernandez got those aforementioned 12 innings with the Braves, spread across five games.
Given his age, he won’t be a priority add for anyone, but Hernandez has also proven he can still get outs in the major leagues, and that may earn him another opportunity ahead of the 2027 season — if a lockout can be prevented from lasting too long.
Braves Pitcher Leaves Contract During Playoffs