Hero of the Braves Postseason Joins the Injured List.

This offseason, the Atlanta Braves put a lot of effort into strengthening their bullpen.

The focus is on the big moves: Atlanta traded lefty Aaron Bummer to the Chicago White Sox in a five-player package, then spent a total of $40.25 million to re-sign Joe Jiménez and Pierce Johnson to multi-year contracts this winter. (Johnson is now experiencing inflammation in his elbow and is listed as injured.)

However, there will be another, less publicized trade purchase involved. The 2021 NLCS hero, reliever Tyler Matzek, has been added to the injured list by the Braves due to inflammation in his elbow. Ray Kerr, who is being brought up from AAA Gwinnett, will take his place both in the bullpen and on the active roster.

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).

While opponents are hitting.414 with a.793 slugging percentage against Matzek’s fastballs, which have accounted for all three of his home runs allowed, his slider is giving up a.250 batting average and a.313 slugging percentage. In 2024, batters have swung and missed just 12.9% of the time when facing fastballs; in 2021, that number was 22.6%. Given that Matzek’s predicted batting average off the fastball is still.379 and his expected slugging percentage is.786, it seems unlikely that this was simply terrible luck for him.