Former Braves reliever Jackson Stephens is heading back to the Uni-Lions of Taiwan’s Chinese Professional Baseball League, as relayed by CPBL Stats. Stephens was released by the Triple-A Gwinnett Stripers to sign in the CPBL in August. He’ll now re-up with the Uni-Lions for 2026. Stephens emerged from relative obscurity to become a semi-regular member of Atlanta’s bullpen in 2022. After some time out of pro ball, the righty pitched in the Mexican League in 2021. He earned a minor league deal with the Braves in January 2022 and was promoted to the big-league club in April. Working primarily as a multi-inning reliever, Stephens delivered a respectable 3.69 ERA across 53 2/3 innings. He chipped in two saves (of the three-inning variety) and even made a spot-start in the final game of the season. Stephens’ solid work in the bullpen resulted in an NLDS roster spot. He came through with two scoreless innings in Atlanta’s Game 1 loss to Philadelphia. Stephens was largely squeezed out of a bullpen spot the next two
