ATLANTA, GA – MAY 22: Washington pitcher Mitchell Parker (70) pitches during the MLB game between the Washington Nationals and the Atlanta Braves on May 22nd, 2026 at Truist Park in Atlanta, GA. (Photo by Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Folks, we have a transaction! It’s November 2, which means that 40-man rosters across baseball have to be cleaned up with free agency officially starting at 5:00 p.m. ET today. As such, minor moves like this are going to be expected and the Atlanta Braves have gotten some business done this afternoon.
The Braves are taking a bit of a flier with this particular move, as the team announced today that they’ve claimed left-handed pitcher Mitchell Parker off waivers from the Washington Nationals.
The #Braves today claimed LHP Mitchell Parker off waivers from the Washington Nationals.— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) November 2, 2026
Mitchell Parker was part of Washington’s rotation in 2025 but the team decided to move him to the bullpen ahead of the 2026 season, which is where he had a bit of a rough season with Washington. Parker finished with an ERA of 6.58 (154 ERA-) and a FIP of 5.47 (128 FIP-) across 39.2 innings and 22 appearances. Unfortunately, he saw his season get cut short once he got diagnosed with a Grade 3 UCL sprain in his throwing elbow in early July.
He went under the knife for an internal brace surgery in late July and as such, it’s reasonable to expect that we won’t see Parker in action until September 2027 — hopefully there will be big league baseball going on by then! If not, then it wouldn’t be particularly shocking to see Mitchell Parker just end up missing the 2027 season entirely.
For now, he’ll be trying to get back right again as a member of the Atlanta Braves. Our friends over at Federal Baseball seemed to believe that he may have found something with his swingman role with the Nationals, so maybe the Braves will tap into that once he returns from injury. We’ll see what happens going forward.