On a late August afternoon in an empty Truist Park, Atlanta Braves reliever Ray Kerr leaned against the dugout railing and absorbed the atmosphere around him. To his right, his teammates played catch. Across the field, a trio of Los Angeles Dodgers stars warmed up.Back in the majors for the first time in two years, Kerr reveled in the ordinariness. And approximately four hours later, he watched ace Chris Sale put the finishing touches on a spectacular, sweep-clinching shutout of the reigning back-to-back World Series champions.The stadium erupted, and Kerr, who didn’t come out of the bullpen to pitch in the game as scheduled, was in awe of a pitcher he has long idolized.“I’d rather watch that 100 percent of the time than pitch in the game,” Kerr said. “That’s something that doesn’t happen every day.”After growing up in foster care and giving up on baseball while in college to work a normal job, spending every day in a major-league ballpark isn’t a given for Kerr either.“I have a certain level of respect for guys that have been through it, whether it be injury or performance, and gotten kicked down, and then they find a way to get back,” Braves manager Walt Weiss said. “And Ray is certainly one of those guys.”Two weeks ago, the 31-year-old pitched in his first game in the majors since June 15, 2024. He had Tommy John surgery after that outing, and the road back was long.He spent the better part of two years at the Braves’ spring training complex, pitching on back fields in thick Florida humidity, completing countless hours of physical rehab and often wondering if one day he’d be back in an MLB uniform. It wasn’t until mid-July that he made his first official rehab appearance.Fishing was his escape. He spent hours on the water, catching primarily largemouth bass. Some days he’d get lucky and catch a barracuda — or even the occasional gator. Others he’d go home empty-handed, and that was OK, because those moments of solitude were as important as the work on the mound.