The Atlanta Braves dropped a 9-5 choice to the Washington Nationals on Tuesday, a loss that noticed the Braves’ lead within the Nationwide League East drop to 3 video games over the Philadelphia Phillies with 23 video games left.
The Braves now face a four-game, weekend wraparound collection head-to-head in opposition to the Phillies, a set that instantly turns into an important collection of the 12 months for Atlanta. However first, they should get by way of another sport in opposition to the Nationals.
Earlier than Wednesday’s Nationals sport, the Braves made a brand new choice about their pitching employees.
Elieser Hernández is again in Atlanta once more. The Braves chosen the veteran right-hander’s contract from Triple-A Gwinnett on Wednesday, in keeping with a group announcement, his third stint with the group this season.
Atlanta optioned rookie Blake Burkhalter again to Gwinnett to clear the required roster spot, a fast turnaround after his main league debut. The membership additionally designated left-hander Hayden Harris for task to open a spot on the 40-man roster.
Elieser Hernández’s Path Again to Atlanta
Burkhalter, a 2022 second-round select of Auburn, made his main league debut Tuesday night time in opposition to the Washington Nationals, working a scoreless backside of the sixth earlier than permitting a run on a success and a stroll. He struck out a batter in that outing. The Braves optioned him again down after that single look moderately than maintain him on the lively roster.
Harris, a Georgia Southern product, spent most of 2026 at Gwinnett after a short large league cameo in 2025. Designating him for task prioritizes bullpen size over growing one other younger arm proper now.
Hernández, nicknamed “Lilo,” has change into Atlanta’s newest arm to repeatedly discard and re-acquire, a sample the group beforehand ran with Carlos Carrasco and Jesse Chavez, biking veterans on and off the roster by way of waivers and recent minor-league offers, in keeping with MLB Commerce Rumors’ report monitoring the sooner DFA transfer.
He’s Venezuelan-born, signed by Houston as an newbie free agent in 2012, and reached the majors with Miami after the Marlins took him within the 2017 Rule 5 draft. He pitched for Miami from 2018 by way of 2022, then made transient stops with the Dodgers and Brewers in 2024 earlier than spending time in Korea with the KBO’s LG Twins, the place he went 7-6 with a 4.14 ERA and 128 strikeouts throughout 113 innings. Atlanta signed him to a minor-league deal on Nov. 18, 2025.
| ATLANTA BRAVES STARTING LINEUP | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP: Grant Holmes (RHP, #66) • 9-5, 3.71 ERA, 103 Okay | ||||||||
| September 2, 2026 • Nationals Park, Washington, DC • 1:05 PM EDT • Braves at Nationals | ||||||||
| # | Participant | Pos | B | HR | RBI | SB | AVG | OPS |
| 1 | Drake Baldwin | DH | L | 22 | 69 | 3 | .279 | .813 |
| 2 | Ronald Acuña Jr. | RF | R | 13 | 36 | 19 | .238 | .745 |
| 3 | Matt Olson | 1B | L | 37 | 80 | 4 | .256 | .854 |
| 4 | Ozzie Albies | 2B | S | 21 | 68 | 3 | .254 | .725 |
| 5 | Michael Harris II | CF | L | 24 | 80 | 10 | .296 | .829 |
| 6 | Sean Murphy | C | R | 2 | 4 | 0 | .224 | .641 |
| 7 | Mike Yastrzemski | LF | L | 9 | 34 | 1 | .222 | .675 |
| 8 | Austin Riley | 3B | R | 15 | 61 | 9 | .220 | .652 |
| 9 | Ha-Seong Kim | SS | R | 0 | 5 | 2 | .112 | .314 |
| Lineups topic to vary. Nationals lineup not but introduced. Ha-Seong Kim .112 AVG displays an excessive small pattern with Atlanta. | ||||||||
How Elieser Hernández Helps Braves Pitching Employees
Hernández owns a profession 11-22 document with a 5.03 ERA throughout 101 large league video games, and this season at Gwinnett he posted a 4.83 ERA with 72 strikeouts over 76 1/3 innings, in keeping with CBS Sports activities’ monitoring of his participant stats. In two outings with Atlanta this 12 months he has thrown six innings, together with three scoreless frames in an extra-inning win at Baltimore and his first profession save in opposition to Washington.
Atlanta’s rotation has been battered, with Spencer Strider and Spencer Schwellenbach each accomplished for the season and Reynaldo López and Robert Suárez sidelined, in keeping with FanGraphs present group harm tracker. Chris Sale, Grant Holmes, Bryce Elder, Martín Pérez, AJ Smith-Shawver and Tyler Mahle stay the core rotation, however a taxed bullpen wants size behind them in September.
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