Former Braves reliever Jackson Stephens is heading again to the Uni-Lions of Taiwan’s Chinese language Skilled Baseball League, as relayed by CPBL Stats. Stephens was launched by the Triple-A Gwinnett Stripers to signal within the CPBL in August. He’ll now re-up with the Uni-Lions for 2026.
Stephens emerged from relative obscurity to turn out to be a semi-regular member of Atlanta’s bullpen in 2022. After a while out of professional ball, the righty pitched within the Mexican League in 2021. He earned a minor league take care of the Braves in January 2022 and was promoted to the big-league membership in April. Working primarily as a multi-inning reliever, Stephens delivered a decent 3.69 ERA throughout 53 2/3 innings. He chipped in two saves (of the three-inning selection) and even made a spot-start within the ultimate sport of the season. Stephens’ stable work within the bullpen resulted in an NLDS roster spot. He got here by way of with two scoreless innings in Atlanta’s Sport 1 loss to Philadelphia.
Stephens was largely squeezed out of a bullpen spot the following two seasons, making simply eight appearances with the big-league membership. He additionally missed time with a number of accidents. Stephens was pitching properly with the Stripers this previous 12 months, tossing 49 innings with a 2.57 ERA. Opponents hit simply .202 in opposition to him throughout 22 appearances. Maybe not seeing a path to return to the MLB squad, Stephens selected to pursue a possibility in Taiwan.
Cincinnati took Stephens within the 18th spherical of the 2012 draft. He slowly labored his approach up the Reds system, reaching the majors in 2017. Stephens earned the win in his first profession begin, holding the Cubs to 3 earned runs over 5 innings. He posted a 4.83 ERA throughout components of two seasons in Cincinnati.
Photograph courtesy of Dale Zanine, Imagn Photos
