Carlos Carrasco is back with the Braves — again. Atlanta announced this morning that the veteran right-hander’s contract was selected from Triple-A Gwinnett. Carrasco takes the open spot on the 40-man roster that was vacated by yesterday’s DFA of outfielder Jose Azocar. Righty Victor Mederos was optioned to Gwinnett to clear an active roster spot.
It’s already the third stint of the season for Carrasco and his fourth since last August. He and the Braves are comfortable with a setup that sees the 39-year-old veteran operate as effectively the 41st man on Atlanta’s 40-man roster. They’ve designated Carrasco for assignment twice this season (thrice since last August). Each time, he’s cleared waivers, elected free agency and almost immediately re-signed on a new minor league deal. That sequence seems likely to play out here as well.
Carrasco has pitched well in the Braves organization this season. He’s tossed 2 1/3 shutout frames in the majors and worked to a flat 3.00 ERA in six starts (30 innings) in Gwinnett. Carrasco’s 90.4 mph average sinker and 91.1 mph average four-seamer with the Stripers are both the second-lowest marks of his career, but he’s still sporting a respectable 21% strikeout rate with excellent walk and ground-ball rates of 5.6% and 51.1%, respectively.
The Braves don’t necessarily need extra length today. The bullpen is fresh. Chris Sale tossed seven dominant innings in yesterday’s 9-1 rout of the Marlins and was relieved by Mederos, who tossed two scoreless frames to close out the game. Mederos probably wasn’t going to be available today anyhow, so it’s not a surprise to see him optioned out. The rest of Atlanta’s relief corps is on at least one day’s rest — and several have rested for two or more consecutive days now.
Carrasco will be available in long relief for however long Atlanta keeps him in the majors. A third DFA is probably on the horizon at some point, since he can’t be optioned. The Braves have Spencer Strider, Bryce Elder, Grant Holmes and Martín Pérez lined up for their next four starts. It’s plausible that at some point Carrasco fails to make it through waivers because a rotation-needy team picks him up based on his solid work in Triple-A, but as long as he keeps clearing waivers, it seems this Jesse Chavez-esque cycle will be the norm for him with the Braves in 2026.
