Building a stable bullpen with defined roles will be one of the vital tasks for the Atlanta Braves front office this offseason. This process won’t begin after the season, however. It has already started and will continue through September, proceeding into the fall and winter.
One such reliever, who is among at least a handful of Braves currently auditioning for a role in 2026, is Tyler Kinley. The 34-year-old righty was rather quietly acquired at the trade deadline a month ago. Since then, he has been quite impressive.
Braves RHP Tyler Kinley is Working His Way Into 2026 Bullpen
When Braves general manager Alex Anthopoulos made the move to land Kinley, the former Colorado Rockies closer was lugging around an ugly 5.66 ERA in 49 games on the season before the move. He did have three saves in addition to 51 strikeouts over 47.2 innings, but as it does for most pitchers, hitter-friendly Coors Field was greatly inflating his ERA.
Kinley also nailed down a dozen saves while striking out more than a batter an inning for the Rockies in 2024. Nevertheless, he finished last season with a lofty 6.19 ERA.
Clearly, Anthopoulos held the belief that others have regarding Kinley. Would he thrive with another club away from the Denver altitude? The Braves sent Double-A reliever Austin Smith to the Rockies in order to find out.
A similar deal with the Rockies worked out with Pierce Johnson a couple of years ago.
With Kinley? So far, so good.
Tyler Kinley defeated the Umpire and Juan Soto 👏#BravesCountry pic.twitter.com/ZElGvZPtRZ
— Eric Yu (@Eric35_Yu) August 14, 2025
Kinley has cruised to an excellent 0.84 ERA and 1.03 WHIP over his first 11 relief appearances for the Braves. Five walks across 10.2 innings is not great, but he countered those free passes with 10 punchouts and by limiting opponents to a 154 AVG.
Going into play Friday, Kinley had not been charged with a run in any of his last eight outings. His fastball-slider combo has limited hard contact to a remarkable 24.1% rate while inducing groundballs at a solid 41.4% clip.
One attractive part of the contract the Braves inherited with Kinley is his $5-million team option for 2026. There are potential incentives attached that could increase that amount a bit, but they are dependent on the number of games finished, and the Braves can largely control that if they so choose.
Kinley's option is insured by a $750-thousand buyout, but the Braves are likely leaning toward picking up his option if he continues to flourish during the season's final month.
Continued success for Kinley in September would give Anthopoulos and company a leg up going into the offseason.