Braves are finding out what Tigers fans already knew about Joey Wentz

Tigers fans breathed a slight sigh of relief when Detroit let go of starter-turned-reliever Joey Wentz in early September of last year. He was a first-round pick for the Braves in 2016 and a top prospect there for a few years before was shipped to Detroit in 2019 while Shane Greene went to Atlanta. Wentz made his MLB debut in 2022, but apart from seven solid starts that year, he never panned out in Detroit.

The Tigers DFA'd him in September and the Pirates picked him up on waivers. He continued to underperform there, was DFA'd, was picked up on waivers by the Twins, and was DFA'd again, before it finally came full-circle when the Braves claimed him on waivers.

Through seven games for Atlanta (six starts), it looked like he might've finally found his stride. From July 12 through Aug. 16, he had a 2.60 ERA through 34 2/3 innings. He even threw a 6 2/3 shutout start against the Royals on July 30.

Since then, though, things have started to sour again. In his last four starts, he has a 10.47 ERA over 16 1/3 innings and just gave up eight runs to the Mariners in 2 1/3 innings on Sunday night.

Former Tigers starter Joey Wentz is turning back into a pumpkin with the Braves

Wentz got most of his playing time with the Tigers in 2023, when he started the season as a member of the rotation but was slowly moved back into a long relief role, where he didn't showed marked signs of improvement. The Tigers tried out multiple different roles for him out of the bullpen in 2024 (after he just barely made the team out of spring training), including closer, but his 5.37 ERA by the end of August finally got him the boot.

His Braves start against the Mariners on Sunday was a sight to behold. He got out of the first inning just fine and only gave up a run in the second, but a single, walk, single, and then a bases-clearing double in the third before he recorded an out opened the floodgates for Seattle. Three more runs would score with just one out before Wentz was pulled (only for reliever Dylan Dodd to give up two more runs, both of which were added to Wentz's ledger).

With Wentz an afterthought this year and the Braves nowhere near playoff contention, it would've been easy for Tigers fans to root for him from afar. Instead, no one can say they're surprised about how things have panned out for him.