James Karinchak Shows Signs of Life - Could He Be a Sneaky Weapon for the Braves in 2026?
The Atlanta Braves didn’t just need a bullpen tune-up this offseason - they needed a full rebuild. After a 2025 campaign where their relief corps finished 25th in MLB by fWAR, it was clear that the group lacked both depth and dominance.
Injuries, regression, and free agency all played a role in the unraveling, and the front office responded accordingly. Bringing back Raisel Iglesias and signing Robert Suarez were headline-worthy moves, and rightly so.
But one under-the-radar addition might end up being just as intriguing: James Karinchak.
Now, if Karinchak’s name rings a bell, it’s probably because you remember the version of him from 2020 to 2022 - the one who could make hitters look completely overmatched with his high-octane fastball and knee-buckling breaking ball. During that stretch, he was one of the more electric arms in the game.
The caveat? He’s always walked a tightrope with command.
The strikeouts were there in bunches, but so were the free passes. Then came the shoulder issues, which sidelined him for all of 2024, and by the end of 2025, he was largely off the radar.
But the Braves saw something. Enough to offer him a minor league deal - low risk, potentially high reward. And now, thanks to a recent offseason bullpen session, Karinchak is starting to turn heads again.
In a video posted by the Baseball Performance Center, Karinchak is shown throwing a bullpen session where he reportedly sat at 95 mph - a number he hasn’t touched in an offseason workout since 2019. That’s a big deal.
Not just because of the velocity itself, but because it suggests he might finally be healthy again. For a guy who hasn’t pitched in the majors since 2023, that’s the first step toward relevance.
Let’s be clear: this is still a long shot. Karinchak is a lottery ticket, and the Braves know it.
That’s why he’s on a minor league deal. If the velocity doesn’t hold, or if the command issues resurface - and history says they might - Atlanta can walk away without much consequence.
But if the stuff is even close to what it once was? That’s a different story.
In a best-case scenario, Karinchak could give the Braves a three-headed monster in the late innings. Iglesias and Suarez already bring proven high-leverage experience, and adding a healthy, effective Karinchak into that mix could be a game-changer.
His fastball/curveball combo has always been tough to square up, especially when he’s locating. That kind of arm can shorten games and tilt postseason matchups.
Of course, it’s important to keep expectations in check. This is a bullpen session in December, not a live outing against big-league hitters.
It’s one thing to hit 95 in a controlled setting; it’s another to do it consistently in the middle of a tight game. But for a pitcher trying to claw his way back onto a major league roster, this is exactly the kind of progress you want to see.
So while Karinchak’s road back is still long, there’s at least a reason to watch closely. If he can stay healthy and find the strike zone with any regularity, the Braves might have found themselves a diamond in the rough - and a bullpen that suddenly looks a whole lot more dangerous heading into 2026.