As part of the latest shuffle to the Atlanta Braves' pitching staff, a key arm returns to the backend of the bullpen. Tyler Kinley has been reinstated from the injured list. He had been absent as he was treated for right elbow inflammation.
In corresponding moves, Ian Hamilton was selected to the major league roster. This will be his second stint up with the Braves this season. JR Ritchie was optioned following his start on Tuesday night, and Carlos Carrasco was once again designated for assignment.
When healthy, Kinley has been one of the Braves high-leverage arms. He's been able to step in at any point in the latter half of games, with his usage pretty evening distributed between the sixth, eight and ninth innings.
He hit a snag in early May, but even before his injury, he was starting to settle back in. He had a 1.04 ERA in nine appearances leading up to his IL stint. The expectation should be that he'll slide back into his usual role with full confidence, especially now that he's healthy.
Kinley will be even more important as Robert Suarez deals with arm soreness . He hasn't pitched since June 19, and it's still unknown if he'll pitch on Wednesday.
Hamilton comes in with 12 scoreless outing in his last 14 appearances. One of those none scoreless outings saw him allow four earned runs across two-thirds of an inning. The overall recent body of work gave the Braves enough confidence to use him as a fresh arm.
Carrasco will likely opt for free agency when he's outrighted and then ultimately re-sign. That's been the standard operating procedure, and it would be bigger if that wasn't what happened.
Meanwhile, Ritchie going down begs the question of who could take his spot in the starting rotation. The Braves need the innings, and Ritchie has shown flashes, but they felt comfortable using the flexibility they have with him to send him to Triple-A.
Perhaps, we'll have to wait and see what this means for Hurston Waldrep , who is building up in Triple-A. He's up to 71 pitches. He's not built up to a starter's workload yet. But if he's close, the Braves may bring him up to see what he can do.
Time will tell. That's an issue for the next through the rotation. For now, they can get more arms in the bullpen.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/mlb/braves/onsi as Braves Activate Tyler Kinley in Latest Major Pitching Staff Shuffle .
