House That Hank Built
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The best Atlanta Braves bullpens ever

By Alan Carpenter

MINNEAPOLIS, MN - JULY 15: National League All-Star Craig Kimbrel #46 of the Atlanta Braves pitches against the American League All-Stars during the 85th MLB All-Star Game at Target Field on July 15, 2014 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MN - JULY 15: National League All-Star Craig Kimbrel #46 of the Atlanta Braves pitches against the American League All-Stars during the 85th MLB All-Star Game at Target Field on July 15, 2014 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /
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ATLANTA, GA – APRIL 12: A general view of Fulton County Stadium taken during the game between the San Francisco Giants and Atlanta Braves on April 12, 1997 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by: Jim Gund/Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GA – APRIL 12: A general view of Fulton County Stadium taken during the game between the San Francisco Giants and Atlanta Braves on April 12, 1997 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by: Jim Gund/Getty Images) /

5. The Best at Throwing Strikes

You are free to debate whether “throwing strikes” and “avoiding walks” are different concepts or simply two sides of the same coin.

Right now, the notion of avoiding walks is foremost in our minds since our 2018-19 bullpens have developed a particular proclivity to the practice.

Accordingly, this page is dedicated to the Atlanta Braves bullpen that best made sure hitters would have to swing the bat if they wanted to reach base.

1968 BRAVES

During this season, the team still wasn’t especially good (81-81), but they did avoid ‘giveaways’ out of the bullpen.

2.76 walks per 9 innings.

This number was still actually quite a bit higher than the entire staff (counting starters), that being a 2.2 walk rate.  But what’s surprising is that this staff included knuckleballer Phil Niekro, who managed a 1.6 rate.

Cecil Upshaw was the de factor closer on this club, with 116.2 innings in 52 outings, recording 13 saves in the process, but holding hitters to a 1.9 walks-per-9 rate.

Claude Raymond had the 2nd-most relief innings at 60, and he was just under the average at 2.69.  Clay Carroll was still around, too:  2.42 rate with 22 innings in relief.

As a group, they were solid while not spectacular:  a 3.29 ERA overall.

Again, this was an era in which hitters put the ball in play a lot:  stats like FIP (Fielding Independent Pitching) were effectively meaningless because everybody put the ball in play.

  • Strikeouts per 9 innings for the National League in 1968:  5.8
  • Walks per 9:  2.60

So you can see that while this year featured the Atlanta Braves’ best bullpen effort for walks… it wasn’t especially out of the ordinary… though they were 3rd in the NL that season and the best among their Atlanta counterparts in all these years later.

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