Atlanta Braves sign pitcher Kyle Kendrick

The Atlanta Braves announced two signings Thursday morning, left-handed reliever Alex Torres and right-hander Kyle Kendrick, both to Minor League deals.

The Atlanta Braves agreed to terms with both right-handed starting pitcher Kyle Kendrick and left-handed reliever Alex Torres. This announcement came late Thursday morning as both pitchers have signed Minor League deals with spring training invitations. The Atlanta Braves announced this via the Twitter account.

The Alex Torres signing broke late last night, but the Kyle Kendrick contract was not finalized until the Atlanta Braves announced it this morning. Kendrick spent most of his big league career in the Philadelphia Phillies rotation (2007-14) before pitching with the Colorado Rockies in 2015.

The Atlanta Braves point out via their Twitter account that Kendrick is 12th in the National League in wins (81) and starts (212) since his 2007 debut. It seems that the Braves want to have a veteran presence in their rotation and perhaps Kyle Kendrick can provide some much-needed innings to an otherwise unproven Atlanta Braves rotation.

However Hardball Talk’s Aaron Gleeman points out that Kyle Kendrick had an otherwise “terrible” 2015 with the Colorado Rockies. Kendrick routinely gave up homers in spacious Coors Field, leading the MLB in home runs surrendered at 33. His 2015 ERA of 6.32 was certainly inflated by pitching in Denver in last season, but his career 4.63 mark isn’t promising for a rebuilding Atlanta Braves team, a club that was routinely out-slugged by its opponents in 2015.

Regardless of Kendricks’ knack for giving up the long ball, it seems obvious that general manager John Coppolella is sticking to his primary offseason plan of adding competition to the rotation and the bullpen. The Atlanta Braves have already signed over half a dozen veteran arms to Minor League deals with spring training invites in the hope that a few of them can stick on the 2016 pitching staff in the long-term.

Next: Atlanta Braves sign left-hander Alex Torres

Likely a few of these arms will prove themselves as valuable trade assets come the July 31st MLB Trade Deadline later on this upcoming season. Atlanta may again end up selling off some veteran pitchers and position players to acquire younger assets for 2017 and beyond. Signing Kyle Kendrick and Alex Torres helps the Atlanta Braves in both the short and longterm in 2016.