Atlanta Braves resign veteran reliever Darren O’Day

The Atlanta Braves have resigned former all-star reliever, Darren O’Day to a one-year deal with a club option in 2021.

This is a great move by the Atlanta Braves bringing back O’Day for 2.25 million in 2020 and a club 3.5 million in 2021.

Darren O’Day was acquired by the Braves at the trade deadline in 2018 in the Kevin Gausman deal for a group of minor-leaguers and international pool money.

He was long the forgotten man because he was rehabbing a left hamstring strain that caused him not to dress for the Braves in 2018. He then missed the beginning of the 2019 season with a right forearm strain and wasn’t activated until September 5th.

Following his activation, he seemed to get back to his old self appearing in 8 games posting a 1.69 ERA, 6 strikeouts, and 1 walk in 5.1 innings pitched.

I know this is a very small sample size for O’Day in a Braves uniform, but if you look back at his days with the Orioles this could end up being a steal.

In the three years before he donned an Atlanta Braves uniform, he posted a SO/9 over 11  and an ERA in the mid 3s. This is a solid performance in the offensive juggernaut that is the AL East.

From 2012-2015 O’Day was considered to be one of the top relievers in baseball and earning an all-star nod in 2015 posting a 1.52 ERA while striking out 11.3 per nine and walking 1.9 per nine.

I’m not saying he’s going to return to his all-star form but this is a cheap low-risk contract for a veteran reliever who should post solid numbers.

I think we can all agree that the Braves could use a respectable veteran in the bullpen that has pitched in high leverage moments.