The Atlanta Braves dropped a 9-5 decision to the Washington Nationals on Tuesday, a loss that saw the Braves’ lead in the National League East drop to three games over the Philadelphia Phillies with 23 games left.
The Braves now face a four-game, weekend wraparound series head-to-head against the Phillies, a set that immediately becomes the most important series of the year for Atlanta. But first, they need to get through one more game against the Nationals.
Before Wednesday’s Nationals game, the Braves made a new decision about their pitching staff.
Elieser Hernández is back in Atlanta again. The Braves selected the veteran right-hander’s contract from Triple-A Gwinnett on Wednesday, according to a team announcement, his third stint with the organization this season.
Atlanta optioned rookie Blake Burkhalter back to Gwinnett to clear the required roster spot, a quick turnaround after his major league debut. The club also designated left-hander Hayden Harris for assignment to open a spot on the 40-man roster.
Elieser Hernández’s Path Back to Atlanta
Burkhalter, a 2022 second-round pick out of Auburn, made his major league debut Tuesday night against the Washington Nationals, working a scoreless bottom of the sixth before allowing a run on a hit and a walk. He struck out a batter in that outing. The Braves optioned him back down after that single appearance rather than keep him on the active roster.
Harris, a Georgia Southern product, spent most of 2026 at Gwinnett after a brief big league cameo in 2025. Designating him for assignment prioritizes bullpen length over developing another young arm right now.
Hernández, nicknamed “Lilo,” has become Atlanta’s latest arm to repeatedly discard and re-acquire, a pattern the organization previously ran with Carlos Carrasco and Jesse Chavez, cycling veterans on and off the roster through waivers and fresh minor-league deals, according to MLB Trade Rumors’ report tracking the earlier DFA move.
He is Venezuelan-born, signed by Houston as an amateur free agent in 2012, and reached the majors with Miami after the Marlins took him in the 2017 Rule 5 draft. He pitched for Miami from 2018 through 2022, then made brief stops with the Dodgers and Brewers in 2024 before spending time in Korea with the KBO’s LG Twins, where he went 7-6 with a 4.14 ERA and 128 strikeouts across 113 innings. Atlanta signed him to a minor-league deal on Nov. 18, 2025.
| ATLANTA BRAVES STARTING LINEUP | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP: Grant Holmes (RHP, #66) • 9-5, 3.71 ERA, 103 K | ||||||||
| September 2, 2026 • Nationals Park, Washington, DC • 1:05 PM EDT • Braves at Nationals | ||||||||
| # | Player | Pos | B | HR | RBI | SB | AVG | OPS |
| 1 | Drake Baldwin | DH | L | 22 | 69 | 3 | .279 | .813 |
| 2 | Ronald Acuña Jr. | RF | R | 13 | 36 | 19 | .238 | .745 |
| 3 | Matt Olson | 1B | L | 37 | 80 | 4 | .256 | .854 |
| 4 | Ozzie Albies | 2B | S | 21 | 68 | 3 | .254 | .725 |
| 5 | Michael Harris II | CF | L | 24 | 80 | 10 | .296 | .829 |
| 6 | Sean Murphy | C | R | 2 | 4 | 0 | .224 | .641 |
| 7 | Mike Yastrzemski | LF | L | 9 | 34 | 1 | .222 | .675 |
| 8 | Austin Riley | 3B | R | 15 | 61 | 9 | .220 | .652 |
| 9 | Ha-Seong Kim | SS | R | 0 | 5 | 2 | .112 | .314 |
| Lineups subject to change. Nationals lineup not yet announced. Ha-Seong Kim .112 AVG reflects an extreme small sample with Atlanta. | ||||||||
How Elieser Hernández Helps Braves Pitching Staff
Hernández owns a career 11-22 record with a 5.03 ERA across 101 big league games, and this season at Gwinnett he posted a 4.83 ERA with 72 strikeouts over 76 1/3 innings, according to CBS Sports’ tracking of his player stats. In two outings with Atlanta this year he has thrown six innings, including three scoreless frames in an extra-inning win at Baltimore and his first career save against Washington.
Atlanta’s rotation has been battered, with Spencer Strider and Spencer Schwellenbach both done for the season and Reynaldo López and Robert Suárez sidelined, according to FanGraphs current team injury tracker. Chris Sale, Grant Holmes, Bryce Elder, Martín Pérez, AJ Smith-Shawver and Tyler Mahle remain the core rotation, but a taxed bullpen needs length behind them in September.
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