Atlanta Braves Bring Back Veteran Reliever Darren O’Day
By Kit Anderson
Darren O’Day will be a member of the Atlanta Braves bullpen in 2020 once again. The Braves re-signed O’Day in their first bullpen move of the off-season bringing back an experience veteran to a very young bullpen.
The Atlanta Braves bullpen certainly is in need of an overhaul this off-season. After losing the majority of its limited talent Atlanta’s bullpen will need a complete overhaul this season. Their first move was bringing back veteran Darren O’Day.
O’Day is a solid addition if he can stay healthy long enough to make an impact. For the majority of the last two seasons O’Day has been on the injured list and hasn’t been able to make an impact.
If healthy O’Day is a solid setup option or a situational reliever. He isn’t dominate at this point in his career but he should continue to be productive considering he doesn’t rely on velocity.
O’Day was signed for $2.5-million this season with a $3.5-million dollar team option for the 2021 season.
This is a solid move for Atlanta but only the start of what needs to be done. Atlanta doesn’t have a reliable closing option or a good setup man. Both of these positions need to be addressed before the start of the season.
If not, Atlanta is in for another long and frustrating season from their bullpen. They need to continue to make moves and explore all bullpen options.
Starting pitching is important but in the new age of baseball having a bullpen you can count on is everything.
Signing O’Day is the first step in what should be a very busy off-season for Atlanta. Their World Series window remains open if they can continue to improve around their very talented young core.
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If O’Day can stay healthy this is a great move for Atlanta and will give them a much needed veteran. If not, it is a low risk high reward deal that won’t hurt Atlanta as they start to turn their attention towards top free agents.