Atlanta Braves: 5 moves to repeat as World Series champions

The Braves bullpen could use a high-leverage righty like Ryan Tepera

Perhaps the best right-handed reliever on the free agent market for the Braves to sign, adding Ryan Tepera to the bullpen would be a low-key winning move by the club before Opening Day. The Braves should consider themselves lucky to have as many talented lefties on the roster to get them through those late innings. One more righty could make the bullpen all that much more mighty.

Tepera split his 2021 season with both Chicago teams, going 0-2 with a 2.79 ERA in 61.1 innings of work. He has a lifetime 3.48 ERA, spent mostly with the Toronto Blue Jays where he pitched well but not spectacularly.

The last two years have been particularly good for Tepera in one department: strikeouts. His 13.5 strikeouts per nine in 2020 was good in the limited sample. Last year, in about three times as many innings, he again showcased his strikeout abilities. Tepera fanned batters at a rate of 10.9 per nine innings paired with a solid 2.8 walks per nine along the way.

Signing free agent relievers may not be the kinds of moves we usually think of as groundbreaking for any team’s hopes to win a championship. However, when October rolls around, it’s often those relief pitchers who save the day. We saw several Braves relievers get the job done for the club in 2022. Adding Tepera will give them one more member of the cavalry to repeat as World Series champions.