What Kelvin Herrera to the Washington Nationals means for the Atlanta Braves

According to Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports, the Washington Nationals have traded for Kansas City Royals’ closer Kelvin Herrera. What does this mean for the Braves?

For the fourth straight season, the Washington Nationals have traded for a big-name reliever in the middle of the season. Trades in previous years for Sean Doolittle and Ryan Madson, Mark Melancon, and Jonathan Papelbon were made because the Nationals were missing a set closer. This time, however, the Nationals are adding to an already strong bullpen.

The Nationals bullpen pre-Herrera this season is already first in the NL in fewest walks per nine innings, third in WHIP, and fifth in xFIP.

Herrera will only strengthen these numbers as he has the third-best BB/9 in all of baseball at 0.70 and is having a career-best year in terms of WHIP at 0.82. Also, if you’re into xwOBA, Herrera has a good one at 2.75.

Braves fans will now shift their focus from wanting Herrera in Atlanta to hoping he falls apart in Washington.

While his demise is unlikely, it’s certainly not far-fetched to think that he will probably see a bit of regression. Herrera’s 1.05 ERA currently ranks 5th in baseball among qualified relievers, however his 2.62 FIP ranks 39th and his 3.51 xFIP ranks 60th.

Herrera also sports a ridiculous strand rate of 98.9%. Even if the dust settles on Herrera’s ERA and it ends up looking closer to his FIP by year’s end, the trade will still be positive for the Nationals.

The Division Race Heats Up

The Braves are currently leading the division by 3.5 games and have eight straight games coming up against sub-.500 opponents (including six against Baltimore and Cincinnati who are a combined 46-95).

It’s no secret the Nationals made this move in an effort to catch the Braves. They’ll have a lot of head-to-head opportunities, too, as the Braves and Nationals are set to play each other nine more times this season.

The Nationals, now with one of the better bullpens in baseball AND with Adam Eaton and Daniel Murphy both returning from injuries, are not going to be easy for the Braves to impede.

Now we wait to see if the Braves make their own move for a bullpen piece. The Braves bullpen is currently 10th in the NL in FIP, 10th in xFIP, last in BB/9, and 9th in ERA. However, Herrera being taken off the board of potential RP trade candidates early changes things up as far as the market goes.

Herrera’s Effect on the Relief Market

Herrera’s name has been almost synonymous with “trade” this year as the Royals have essentially have no shot at the postseason and he’s a pending free agent.

Along with Zach Britton and a few names from the Padres, including Brad Hand, Herrera figured to be one of the hottest commodities at the deadline because of his experience closing games and the fact that it will take a haul to pry Hand from San Diego.

While this trade somewhat sets the bar for what the Orioles’ asking price for Britton could be, it also increases the leverage that teams selling quality relievers have.

Other than Britton right now, the only other pending free agent closer on a losing team is Jeurys Familia. There are multiple contending teams that will be (or should be) looking closely at the closer market including Cleveland, Philadelphia, Atlanta, and Houston.

If the Braves don’t trust either Familia or Britton more than the in-house closer options of Arodys Vizcaíno or Dan Winkler, then they might stand pat, trade for a non-closer, or go all-in and get Brad Hand.

The most exciting of these options is, of course, acquiring Brad Hand. Hand and Winkler would combine to form perhaps the best lefty-righty relief duo in the NL as both have devastated batters of like-handedness.

Brian Snitker would have great options in any situation as lefties have an OPS of only .359 against Hand and righties have an OPS of only .303 against Winkler.

Next: the omnibus Jacob deGrom discussion thread

With Herrera being traded, the Padres now have the perfect storm to land a haul similar to what they got when they sent Craig Kimbrel to Boston after the 2015 season.

Not only is Hand under control for multiple more years, but they don’t have to be sellers this year because they’re trying to contend somewhere in the near future. The thinning closer market only gives San Diego even more leverage as teams desperate to win their divisions come calling.