Atlanta Braves lefty reliever search: 5 names to know

Catching one from the fish

Atlanta Braves fans should know the Marlin’s Adam Conley. Although the Braves avoided him so far this year they did see him three times each of the last two seasons. The Braves handled him pretty well then; this year’s different, he’s a much better pitcher.

Conley’s fastball sits a tick under 95mph and touches 96+ with sharp tailing action and a 2667 rpm spin rate that makes it look even quicker. Brooks Baseball tells us it exhibits natural sink and generates more groundballs than most four-seam fastballs.

He throws a hard change that generates a lot of swings and misses but also produces more flyballs than most. His slider’s low spin and 12-6 movement’s generated a lot of strikeouts this year.

Conley posted the lowest ERA, SIERA, and WHIP is this group as well as the highest no-hit innings-pitched ratio. On the downside, he also had the worst meltdown average.

Conley turned 28 in May making him the second oldest of the five pitchers under discussion. Three years of arbitration lie ahead of Conley who won’t be a free agent until. 2022.

Awesome Amir

After seeing him against the Atlanta Braves a couple of weeks ago, everyone wants Amir Garrett in the Atlanta Braves’ pen. That’s true across the league making him a valuable commodity.

My dad would call Garrett a long, tall, drink of water who shows you a lot of arms and legs before releasing a heater averaging 95 mph in your direction. Like Conley, Garrett’s fastball features natural sink and results in a lot of dead worms.

He uses an 82-83 mph slider to offset the fastball and creates a WHIFF rate with it while his change is primarily a “show me” pitch that can find its way into the seats.

Garrett finished in a virtual tie for lowest SIERA with Conley and Rogers. He showed second best in DRA and WHIP and posted respectable numbers in the remaining metrics.

Garrett earns league minimum money and won’t reach free agency until 2024.