Joe Jimenez’s road back to a Major League mound has already been steep, and the Braves’ latest posture suggests they’re not rushing to meet him there.
After another knee procedure earlier this year, simply getting to any kind of late-season pitching work felt like a long shot for Jimenez. But he kept grinding through rehab, and by mid-September he had at least reached a place where Atlanta could consider letting him throw in some form before the season ends. That possibility lines up with what Braves insider Mark Bowman reported: Jimenez could appear in some Instructional League games before the year is over.
Manager Walt Weiss didn’t sound like someone plotting a meaningful September return. He said it would be good for Jimenez to pitch at some level and build a little momentum heading into the offseason, which points the Braves’ thinking toward 2027 more than anything immediate.
Walt Weiss said it would be good for Joe Jimenez to pitch at some level before the year ends just to allow him to enter the offseason feeling good about next year. This might mean pitching in Instructional League games
- Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) September 11, 2026
That caution feels familiar. Atlanta went through a similar dynamic with A.J.
Minter, another high-leverage reliever who had been a big part of the bullpen before injury complicated his future. Minter’s 2024 hip issue created real uncertainty around his free agency, and the Braves’ hesitation to bring him back was obvious.
He eventually landed a modest deal with the Mets, and while he has bounced back in 2026, Atlanta’s concern about durability was never hard to understand.
Jimenez now sits in the same neighborhood. The talent is obvious, and the Braves know it.
He was excellent in 2024, finishing with a 2.62 ERA and 2.34 FIP. But the knee issue has changed the conversation, and every update from Weiss has sounded measured rather than optimistic.
That doesn’t scream a team preparing to make a serious run at bringing him back.
Jimenez is set to hit free agency this offseason, and there’s no guarantee Atlanta will be part of that next chapter. Unless the market comes down to something resembling a minor league or spring training invite, it’s hard to picture the Braves making a strong push.
That’s where the comparison to Minter matters most. Atlanta loved Minter, but the injury uncertainty pushed them toward caution.
The same feeling seems to be settling in around Jimenez now. Alex Anthopoulos has usually been aggressive with bullpen spending, but this year’s Robert Suarez fiasco could send that search in a different direction.
For Jimenez, the best-case scenario may simply be getting back to health and finding a path back to the big leagues. It just increasingly looks like that path won’t run through Atlanta.
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