The Atlanta Braves have acquired veteran left-handed reliever Brad Hand from the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday, hours before the trade deadline, the team announced.
Alec Barger, a 25-year-old reliever pitching in Double-A, is going to the Rockies in exchange. Hand, 33, had a 4.54 ERA in 40 appearances out of the Rockies' bullpen, striking out 41 batters and walking 16 in 35 2/3 innings, but he has held opposing left-handed hitters to only a .143/.276/.204 slash line.
Hand is making $4 million this season and carries a $7 million club option for 2024. On the first-place Braves — the team he faced in the National League Division Series last season, while pitching for the Philadelphia Phillies — he'll slot into a deep bullpen featuring Raisel Iglesias, Joe Jimenez, Kirby Yates and fellow lefty A.J.
Minter. The Braves will mark Hand's ninth team, and his sixth since the 2020 season. His acquisition comes a little over a week after the Braves landed another reliever, Pierce Johnson, from the Rockies.