Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

Braves experimenting with another reliever in the starting rotation?

Originally posted on SportsTalkATL | By Alex Lord | Last updated 5/20/24

Several clubs have found success in turning relievers into starters this season, and the Braves are one of them. Though there’s a lot of baseball left in the season, the experiment to stretch Lopez out has been a resounding success thus far.

The Braves free agent signing owns a 1.34 ERA across seven starts, which spans 40.1 innings, to go along with a 1.091 WHIP. Lopez is under contract for a measly $10 million per season on a three-year pact, and it seems the Braves aren’t done experimenting with the switch form the bullpen to the rotation.

According to Brian Snitker via Mark Bowman, the Braves may try to convert Ray Kerr into a starter as well.

Snit said they might discuss converting Ray Kerr to a starter.

— Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) May 20, 2024

The Braves traded for Kerr, essentially paying for Matt Carpenter’s contract to acquire the left-handed reliever, and it’s worked out splendidly thus far, even if Kerr ran into a bit of trouble last night against the Padres.

In a blowout, Kerr came in and had to give Atlanta innings. He ended up going 3.1 innings with four strikeouts, giving up two runs on two home runs.

Against Boston, Kerr sat down the side, logging a strikeout. In two outings against Chicago, Kerr retired all six batters faced in the sixth and seventh innings, including three strikeouts and two groundouts in the first appearance. In the second, Kerr went 3.0 innings and only gave up one run.

His fastball sat around 97 and the curve looks nasty. The 29-year-old has options and is under team control until 2030.

Regardless of his projection as a starter, Ray Kerr is a versatile weapon out of the bullpen for Brian Snitker. The Braves rotation has looked the part early in the season, even if Bryce Elder has been inconsistent.

Max Fried, Chris Sale, Charlie Morton, and Reynaldo Lopez is as formidable as any four-man rotation in the sport. If Bryce Elder can’t turn things around, giving Ray Kerr an opportunity starts seems like a logical solution.

This article first appeared on SportsTalkATL and was syndicated with permission.

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