Braves Postseason Hero Goes on Injured List

The injuries are starting to pile up in the Atlanta Braves bullpen

Atlanta Braves relief pitcher Tyler Matzek is going on the injured list with left elbow inflammation / Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports

The Atlanta Braves did a lot of work to fortify their bullpen this offseason. 

The attention goes to the high-profile moves, with Atlanta dishing out a combined $40.25M to re-sign the duo of Joe Jiménez and Pierce Johnson to multi-year deals this offseason and the trade acquisition of lefty Aaron Bummer from the Chicago White Sox in a five-player package. (Johnson is currently on the injured list, dealing with elbow inflammation.)

But another, lesser heralded trade acquisition, is going to come into play. The Braves have announced that reliever Tyler Matzek, the hero of the 2021 NLCS, has been placed on the injured list with elbow inflammation. Replacing him on the active roster and in the bullpen is Ray Kerr, who is being called up from AAA Gwinnett.  

Kerr, 29, was acquired from the San Diego Padres as the key piece in an offseason deal that saw the Braves take on the salary of DH Matt Carpenter, who they later released. In nine games this season for Gwinnett, including one start, Kerr is 0-1 with a 4.50 ERA. He’s struck out twenty-two and walked five in fourteen innings, allowing five home runs and picking up three saves. 

For Matzek, the elbow soreness could explain his struggles to return from Tommy John surgery in late 2022. After having an average fastball velocity of 96.0 mph in 2021, both 2022 and so far this season, Matzek’s velocity has hovered around 94 mph and his stats have taken a corresponding dip: a 9.90 ERA in ten appearances, with eleven earned runs in just ten innings, with three walks and ten strikeouts. He’s thrown two wild pitches and allowed three homers so far, good for an ERA+ of just 43 (as compared to 2021’s 169). 

All three of the homers allowed by Matzek have come off of fastballs and opponents are hitting .414 with a .793 slug on the pitch (as compared to his slider, which is allowing a .250 batting average against and a .313 slugging). Hitters have swung and missed just 12.9% of the time against the fastball in 2024, whereas his 2021 amazon was a 22.6% mark. Looking at expected stats doesn’t give much hope that this was just bad luck by Matzek, as his expected batting average allowed off the fastball is still .379 and the expected slugging is .786. 

Atlanta’s backdated the transaction to May 5th, making him eligible to return as soon as May 20th.