Peter Moylan has re-signed with the Braves, the popular Aussie sidearmer returning for a third stint with the team where his major league career began, a person familiar with the situation said. The deal is pending a physical Monday in Orlando.
Moylan, 39, came back from a second Tommy John elbow surgery and staged a career revival the past two seasons with the Royals, posting a 3.46 ERA in 129 appearances over that span including 79 appearances to tie for the major league lead in 2017.
The right-hander had a 3.49 ERA and stingy .189 opponents’ average with 46 strikeouts in 59-1/3 innings in 2017. His 1.096 WHIP (walks-plus-hits per inning pitched) was his lowest in a full season since 2007, when he posted a 1.067 WHIP as a 28-year-old Braves rookie.
Moylan had a 1.80 ERA in 90 innings and 80 appearances that year in his first full season in the big leagues.
With a slimmed-down physique and vast experience, he showed how durable and effective he still could be last season and drew interest from several teams including the Braves in the fall. Major league offers he was expecting again didn’t come to fruition for a few months, but ultimately the Atlanta resident ended up back where he hoped to be, with the Braves.
The Braves were the team that first gave him a chance to re-start his career when they signed Moylan after scouting him in the 2006 World Baseball Classic, when a then-pharmaceutical salesman was pitching for his native Australia -- nine years after last pitching in North American pro ball for a Twins rookie-league team.
The right-hander has pitched eight of his 11 major league seasons with the Braves but spent the past two seasons with the Royals. He also pitched for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2013.
In 460 career appearances, Moylan is 24-9 with four saves and a 3.00 ERA in 390⅓ innings.
