Braves right-hander lands on injured list

The Braves placed right-hander Pierce Johnson on the 15-day injured list due to inflammation in his throwing elbow, per a team announcement.  Johnson’s placement is backdated to May 1.  Atlanta also announced that Jackson Stephens’ contract has been selected from Triple-A Gwinnett, and that to create 40-man roster space for Stephens, left-hander Angel Perdomo was moved from the 15-day IL to the 60-day IL.

Acquired from the Rockies prior to last season’s trade deadline, Johnson posted an 0.76 ERA over 23 2/3 innings for the remainder of the 2023 season, with a 36% strikeout rate and 5.6% walk rate to go along with that tiny ERA.  Given those hugely impressive numbers, it isn’t surprising that the Braves moved to extend Johnson before he hit free agency, locking up the righty to a two-year, $14.25M contract last October before Johnson hit the open market.

Johnson’s numbers haven’t been quite as outstanding in 2024, yet with a 3.00 ERA, 32% strikeout rate and a 58.6% grounder rate, there’s still plenty to like about his performance.  His walk rate has ticked back up to 10 percent, which is of some concern given how control has sometimes been a struggle for Johnson throughout his seven MLB seasons.

For now, however, the bigger concern is just getting Johnson back onto the field, but there isn’t yet any indication that his elbow problem is anything more than soreness.  Johnson (who turns 33 next week) did miss most of the 2022 season due to forearm tendinitis, so his recent injury history does have a prominent arm-related issue.

The Braves’ deep bullpen should provide enough cover to withstand a relatively short absence for Johnson, but in the meantime, Stephens should receive his first MLB action of the 2024 season.  The right-hander posted a 4.83 ERA for the Reds over 63 1/3 innings in 2018-2019 and a 3.56 ERA for the Braves in 65 2/3 frames in 2022-23, and spent the three seasons in between pitching in the minors, the Mexican League and sitting out due to the canceled 2020 minor league season.

Stephens is out of minor league options, so he has been a frequent visitor to DFA limbo over the last year as the Braves had to continually designate him for assignment and then outright him in order to remove Stephens from the 40-man roster.  While Stephens has used his right to elect free agency rather than just accept the outright assignments, he has then re-signed with Atlanta on a new contract.  It wouldn’t be surprising to see this scenario play out again if Stephens’ latest stint on the 26-man is relatively short-lived, either due to Johnson’s quick return or if Atlanta cycles another fresh arm into the bullpen and Stephens is against the odd man out.

Perdomo underwent Tommy John surgery last October, so he was already slated to miss the entirety of the 2024 season.  Surgery notwithstanding, the Braves claimed him off waivers from the Pirates last November (ironically, with Stephens getting outrighted as the corresponding move), cut Perdomo prior to the non-tender deadline, and re-signed him to a split contract in December.  Since Perdomo is controlled through the 2028 season, the Braves are making a long-term bet on a reliever who had some pretty solid numbers for Pittsburgh in 2023.