TODAY: Stephens has again rejected the outright assignment and opted for free agency, the Braves announced.
MAY 18: The Braves announced that right-hander Pierce Johnson has been reinstated from the 15-day injured list. Now recovered from some elbow inflammation, Johnson will take the roster spot of Jackson Stephens, who has been outrighted to Triple-A Gwinnett.
Johnson’s initial IL placement was backdated to May 1, so the reliever will end up missing only slightly beyond the 15-day minimum stint. As noted by MLB.com’s Mark Bowman (X link), Stephens’ status seems to have played a role in Johnson not being immediately reinstated when first eligible, as it gave a bit of extra time for Stephens to pass through waivers. There hadn’t been any public indication that Stephens had been designated for assignment before today’s outright announcement.
Over his first 12 innings of the 2024 season, Johnson had a 3.00 ERA, 32% strikeout rate, 10 percent walk rate, and a 58.6% grounder rate. Control has long been Johnson’s chief issue as a big league pitcher, as he carried an 11.5% walk rate across his 137 2/3 innings with three different teams from 2017-22. That number spiked to a 13.3% in 39 innings with the Rockies last season, and a 6.00 ERA before Johnson’s career was turned around in a deadline trade to Atlanta. Johnson delivered an exceptional 0.76 ERA as well as a 5.6% walk rate and 36% strikeout rate in 23 2/3 innings for the Braves, immediately cementing his place as a key member of the bullpen mix. The Braves were impressed enough to offer Johnson a two-year, $14.25MM contract extension to keep him from testing free agency.
Since Stephens is out of minor league options, the Braves have repeatedly cycled him through the DFA/outright process in order to send him to Triple-A. Stephens has usually elected for free agency in this scenario (as is his right as a player who has previously been outrighted off a 40-man roster) only to re-sign with Atlanta on a new minors contract. It seems quite likely that history could repeat itself here, if Stephens wants to first test the market out of due diligence if nothing else, before returning to his role as a depth arm in the Braves’ system.
Amidst the constant transactions, Stephens has pitched pretty well since initially joining the Braves in the 2021-22 offseason. He has a 3.52 ERA across 69 total innings, with 53 2/3 of those frames coming in 2022 since he missed a good chunk of last season due to injuries.