Jackson Stephens battled injuries throughout the 2023 season, but did make it back to the majors with the Atlanta Braves where he pitched pretty well in a small sample.

The Braves originally acquired Stephens when he agreed to a minor league contract on January 29, 2022. He was a free agent again at the end of the 2022 season and re-signed with Atlanta on a split contract on December 26.

Stephens’ offseason included an amusing quirk: he was designated for assignment when the Braves acquired reliever Dennis Santana from the Rangers. Stephens ended up outlasting Santana in the organization anyway, as Santana ended up switching teams two more times in the offseason, and then getting designated for assignment by the Mets four separate times over the course of the 2023 campaign. Meanwhile, Stephens hung around enough at Gwinnett to get his contract selected by the Braves in September.

What were the expectations?

Stephens came out of nowhere to play a key role out of the bullpen in 2022. Despite being immediately removed from the 40-man roster at the conclusion of Spring Training, he remained with the team in the hopes of receiving another chance to work out of the bullpen. Given his 90 FIP-/102 xFIP- in 2022, he was essentially projected to be a lower-end reliever, albeit one who was not quite on the roster fringe. It is a little surprising that he did not see much major league action until the end of the season in that regard, but it makes sense because he was on Gwinnett’s injured list for the majority of the season and the Braves had already added bullpen depth by the time he was healthy.

2023 Results

On April 3, Stephens was placed on the Injured List due to an injury that was not disclosed to him during his time at Gwinnett. He was not activated from the until July 20 and did not start his rehab assignment until June 27. On September 11, the Braves selected his contract. In five games, he pitched and gave up four runs in 12 innings. In that small sample, he pitched surprisingly well, with a 68 ERA, 87 FIP, and 92 xFIP. He also had one shutdown and no meltdowns.

His season came to an end on October 1, when he was again placed on the Injured List with elbow inflammation. After the World Series, he was outrighted and elected free agency.

What went right?

Despite dealing with a major injury that kept him out for about half of the season, Stephens made his way back to the majors with the Braves and pitched decently well in a small sample.

Stephens prioritized his cutter/slider over his fastballs at the big league level when given a chance. His curveball has excellent break and works well despite him largely throwing it as a get-me-over, so there were definitely things to work with there.

On September 16, he was a major factor in the Braves’ losing effort. After Jared Shuster was relieved after three innings and five runs, Stephens took over and pitched three scoreless innings, which allowed the Braves to tie the game. However, Kirby Yates and Michael Tonkin melted down late and the Braves got blown out at the end, but Stephens showcased his potential value in that game. Here’s his last pitch of that outing, escaping a jam with a groundout: