Veteran closer Raisel Iglesias is returning to the Atlanta Braves on a one-year, $16 million deal, the team announced Wednesday.
Iglesias, 35, hit free agency after a slightly down season for the Braves in which his ERA grew to 3.21 after posting a 1.95 ERA in 2024. He had an excellent run with the Braves over parts of four seasons as the closer, racking up 97 saves, a 15-12 record and a 2.35 ERA.
A major thing that changed in 2025 for Iglesias was less reliance on his slider and changeup, going from 52% of pitches he threw in 2024 to 38% in 2025. Both pitches were notably less effective by Baseball Savant's run value number, which puts a run value on every occurrence of throwing a pitch based on its outcome, collectively going from +13 runs in 2024 to -10 runs in 2025.
Since 2017,

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