Bryce Harper didn’t exactly hide how he felt about the Braves landing Jeremy Hefner.
On a recent podcast appearance with Mookie Betts, the Phillies star made it clear he saw the move as a problem for the rest of the league, especially after Atlanta pulled Hefner away from the Mets. Harper’s line said plenty all by itself: “Once Jeremy Hefner left (the Mets) and went to the Braves… I was like oh no….crap”
That reaction makes a lot of sense given what Atlanta’s pitching group has done this season. The Braves have spent the last couple of months hanging on with a staff that has had to absorb far more than anyone expected back in Spring Training. Hefner has been working with a rotation that leaned on Martin Perez, Bryce Elder, Reynaldo Lopez, and Grant Holmes for starts they were never really supposed to be making.
At the same time, the club entered the year expecting much more from Spencer Schwellenbach, Hurston Waldrep, and Spencer Strider. Instead, that trio has given Atlanta no value because of injuries and inconsistency.
And yet the Braves are still six games ahead of the Phillies in the NL East.
That gap is a big part of why Hefner’s work has drawn so much attention. Atlanta’s pitching staff ranks third in the National League with a 3.67 ERA, a sharp reversal from last season, when the team finished 11th and allowed nearly a run more per game.
Hefner arrived in Atlanta with a reputation as one of the game’s brightest young pitching minds, and the early returns have backed that up. With several pitchers turning in unexpected career years, the Braves are getting far more out of this staff than the setup suggested they would.
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