Enter (new) mop-up man
After Austin Cox pitched some blah mop-up innings last night, it was time for the Braves to replace him with a different mop-up arm: enter Michael Petersen.
The #Braves today recalled RHP Michael Petersen to Atlanta after optioning LHP Austin Cox to Triple-A Gwinnett following yesterday’s game.
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) June 26, 2025
Cox ends this stint with a pretty funny line across two appearances: a 73 ERA-, 103 FIP-, and a 19 xFIP-. That line exists because he struck out five of the 12 batters he’s faced, but of course, he also allowed a homer to Juan Soto in the process.
Petersen has been up a few times already this season as a break-glass-in-case-of-we-forgot-we-were-trying-to-be-competitive-to-salvage-the-season option, but has only made two appearances. He threw two scoreless innings against the Rays in a loss in April, and then wrapped up two frames against the Phillies in a win in May. He has a 2/0 K/BB ratio and a 145/45/68 line in those three innings of work.
Neither guy is really doing anything interesting at Gwinnett, so this is really just a fresh arm move because, well, you know.