Braves trade for Matt Carpenter, Ray Kerr

Kerr appeared in 22 games for the Padres this past season and had some pretty intriguing numbers. The 4.33 ERA is nothing to write home about; it’s respectable, but the 11.7 K/9 stands out. He’s a guy that can hum it in the high-90s from the left side and induce a lot of whiffs. It’s possible he carves out a role for himself in the Braves bullpen, especially if injuries arise.

Matt Carpenter is a well known veteran that spent the bulk of his career with the Cardinals, where he made three All-Star teams. At this point in his career, he’s barely even a bench bat, hitting .176 with a .641 OPS in 237 plate appearances this year. Carpenter did, however, have sort of a miraculous revival in 2022 with the Yankees, recording a 1.138 OPS and 15 homers over just 47 games. At 38-years-old, we’ll see what the Braves do with him. He wouldn’t be the worst guy to have on the bench in a pinch, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the club went in a different direction either.