Braves Call Upon Former Left-Handed Prospect For Doubleheader Depth

With 18 innings at minimum to cover on Thursday, the Braves opt to use their extra roster pace on another lefty

The Braves former prospect heads back to the Majors for a doubleheader | Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

The Atlanta Braves have selected left-handed pitcher Dylan Dodd to be their 27th roster player during their doubleheader with the Phillies on Thursday.

The #Braves have appointed LHP Dylan Dodd as the 27th man for today’s doubleheader.

— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) May 29, 2025

This will be Dodd's second call-up of the season and he'll be sent right back down after the day is done. MLB allowed an extra player from the 40-man roster to come up for the day of a doubleheader. That player accrues one day of MLB service time. So, regardless of if he actually pitches or not, he can take his day of MLB pay and head back to Gwinnett.

Essentially, that's what happened the last time he was called up. They called him up May 16, he didn't pitch to a single batter and then went back down May 19.

Dodd has allowed a single earned run with Triple-A Gwinnett heading back to April 20. He has a 0.84 ERA in 10 2/3 innings pitched in that span. Having to pitch at least 18 inning on Thursday, there is an increased chance he actually sees the mound this time. Even if AJ Smith-Shawever and Chris Sale both give the Braves a solid seven innings, manager Brian Snitker might opt to use Dodd in a late inning role to preserve other back-end members of the bullpen.

The Braves bullpen has already been taxed enough this month. They had to be on call for 17 consecutive games in the first half of May. They've been given a couple of extra unplanned off days due to rainouts. One came during the Nationals series last week and another came on Wednesday.

The top half of the doubleheader will be played on Thursday with a 1:05 p.m. first pitch. The bottom half of the doubleheader will have a 6:45 p.m. first pitch. It's a day-night doubleheader, so separate tickets are required for entry to each game.