Who will replace Martin Perez on the Braves playoff roster?
It was announced on Friday that Martin Perez is headed to the IL with back inflammation. He will miss the Wild Card Series and won’t be eligible to return until the middle of the NLDS. More than likely, he’s out until at least the NLCS, if the Braves make it that far. So, who will […]
It was announced on Friday that Martin Perez is headed to the IL with back inflammation. He will miss the Wild Card Series and won’t be eligible to return until the middle of the NLDS. More than likely, he’s out until at least the NLCS, if the Braves make it that far.
So, who will replace him on the postseason roster? First, let’s take a look at what that would look like.
Potential Braves 2026 Playoff Roster
Starting Pitchers
- Chris Sale
- Tyler Mahle
- Martin Perez (???)
- Grant Holmes
Bullpen
- Raisel Iglesias
- Robert Suarez
- Dylan Lee
- Didier Fuentes
- Brent Suter
- Victor Mederos
- Ray Kerr
- Dylan Dodd
- AJ Smith-Shawver
Catchers
Infielders
Outfielders
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The Braves right now only have three starting pitchers with any experience. Losing even more depth with this injury to Martin Perez hurts, but it’s not something that should be catastrophic. This was always going to be a team that relied a lot more heavily on its bullpen than its starting pitchers. The plan for a while now has been Chris Sale, Tyler Mahle, and then figure out some way to piece together 27 outs.
As far as potential replacements for Perez on the Braves’ playoff roster, there isn’t really a clear-cut option. They could go the bullpen route, with Elieser Hernandez being a likely candidate. He’s proven over a small sample size that he can be effective, boasting a 2.43 ERA in 11 innings this season, and his ability to go multiple innings in a given outing is attractive.
But it feels like the most likely replacement is JR Ritchie. Sure, he’s taken plenty of lumps throughout his rookie season, but from a stuff perspective, there’s still a lot to like, and he showed that a couple of nights ago when he went five innings and allowed just one run with eight strikeouts against the Reds.
In truth, whoever the Braves call up will likely be last in line to see the mound. They’ll have a completely rested pitching staff heading into the Wild Card Series that shouldn’t require everybody to pitch. However, where things really start to get interesting is if the Braves get deeper into the postseason. Then they might be relying on JR Ritchie to make a start, something we’ve seen in the past with guys like Kyle Wright, Bryse Wilson, and Tucker Davidson.
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(Photo by David J. Griffin/Icon Sportswire)
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