The Atlanta Braves made a habit out of claiming players off of waivers during the regular season (for obvious reasons) and early on in the offseason as well. There was a bit of a lull (which has spread across most of baseball) but that’s changed today. Earlier this afternoon, the Braves made a move to claim LHP Ken Waldichuk off waivers. Waldichuk had previously been with the Oakland Sacramento A’s organization before latching onto the Braves organization with this move.
The last time Ken Waldichuk pitched at the major league level was all the way back in 2023, which is when the team was still actually in Oakland. Waldichuk finished with an ERA of 5.36 (130 ERA-) and a FIP of 5.30 (128 FIP-) across 35 appearances (22 starts) and 141 innings pitched. He’s a career 5.28 ERA and 5.10 FIP pitcher over the course of his two big league seasons. Tommy John surgery in May 2024 cost Waldichuk the rest of that season and half of the 2025 season, which he spent the vast majority of his time on the mound pitching for for the Las Vegas Aviators. There, he got 51 innings and 16 appearances (15 starts) under his belt and produced an ERA of 8.65 anda. FIP of 7.30 to go along with it.
Waldichuk ended up on designated for assignment after the A’s brought in Jeff McNeil (thank you for your service, A’s) and now he’s found a home with Atlanta’s organization for the time being. Assuming he sticks around, I’d imagine that he’ll be used for organizational depth going forward. He’s got a heater that sits in the 93-94 mph range as his most utilized pitch and also peppers in a sweeper and a changeup as well.
In order to make room for Waldichuk on the roster, Vidal Bruján has been designated for assignment, himself. Bruján ended up playing in 24 games and making 47 plate appearances as an infielder for the Braves in 2025 and finished with a .268/.362/.317 slash line with a .311 wOBA and 98 wRC+ to go along with it. That’s a pretty wild discrepancy between his OBP and slugging but overall, the Braves couldn’t have been too upset with how he performed as a bit of a fill-in for the Braves down the stretch.
It’s late in the evening (for the offseason, at least) so I’ll go ahead and open the floor up for everybody and drop in a random clip as well. Enjoy your night, folks!
