Braves Lose Tendered Left-Hander to Orioles via Waiver Wire

At some point recently, the Atlanta Braves opted to remove the pitcher from the 40-man roster, and now, he's bound for Baltimore

The Atlanta Braves clearly DFA'd the left-hander recently | Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

The Atlanta Braves have lost a tendered pitcher to an American League East team. They announced Thursday afternoon that the Orioles had claimed him off waivers. It was never announced that he had been designated for assignment, but he was clearly put on waivers at some point recently. 

Saurez had been tendered by the Braves at the deadline along with four others. Despite deciding to give him a contract, they opted to risk losing him on the waiver wire. Now, he goes to Baltimore. 

He spent one season with the team. He was acquired back in March in the trade that sent Ian Anderson to the Los Angeles Angels. About a month later, Anderson was back with the organization, so they were teammates in Triple-A. Since Anderson elected free agency back in November, both pitchers are no longer with the organization. 

The whole transaction is officially a wash for both teams. While Suarez has a landing spot, Anderson is still a free agent, according to his transaction page, at the time of this article’s publication. 

Suarez spent most of the time with Triple-A Gwinnett. However, he made a handful of appearances for the Braves, both early and late in the season. He made seven appearances, including one start. He pitched to a 1.86 ERA and a 1.29 WHIP in 19 1/3 innings pitched. 

The highlight of his season came when he made his lone start during a doubleheader against the Washington Nationals. He pitched seven innings, allowed two runs on six hits and two walks, while punching out nine. Those punchouts were a career high in a game, beating a career best of eight that he had back in 2022. 

After that start, he made three more appearances out of the bullpen, all of which were scoreless. In the minor leagues, he had a 3.50 ERA across 13 appearances, 11 of which were starts. 

The Braves continue to set their pitching staff for the upcoming season. They recently re-signed Tyler Kinley to a one-year contract that includes a player option. He was a clutch deadline pickup, and he will stick around to help lockdown the back end of the bullpen. 

These types of moves could potentially indicate that something could be materializing. It could also just be the basic standard operating procedure of the offseason occurring. As Spring Training approaches, we’ll only learn more.