Atlanta Braves trade deadline report card: bullpen rebuild complete

What this means for the bullpen

Everyone wants to know what the Atlanta Braves bullpen looks like after the new arms arrive – that’s probably tomorrow.

There’s no official announcement yet, but some things are easy to see.

The quality of the pen increased enough to return to a seven-man relief corps and give manager Brian Snitker a 5-man bench.

This means Anthony Swarzak goes on the IL, – he hasn’t been good since returning from his shoulder injury – A.J. Minter, Jacob Webb, Jeremy Walker get optioned to AAA, and Jerry Blevins is DFA.

One of these things has already happened:

That leaves the bullpen with only one lefty reliever, a disadvantage when facing a lefty-heavy lineup like that of the Dodgers… so enter Chris Martin.

Martin features a significant reverse split that makes him useful against lefties:

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

Melancon’s cutter is back to its best again giving him good splits as well:

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

If this doesn’t appear to work the Braves can recall Minter or add Kyle Muller to the roster.

Speaking of the roster, the Braves needed to make room for the additions and designated Luiz Gohara for assignment.

That’s a wrap

Considering everything that happened and the way prices escalated, Alex Anthopoulos did very well to protect the system and fill needs.  An A+ required four years of Felipe Vazquez, a controllable starter and an experienced bat.

I don’t think Riley figures it our or Nick comes back strong enough, quick enough, to fill that void.  I hope I’m wrong.

All-in-all, the Atlanta Braves had the second-best deadline day in the league.  The Astros snuck in at the wire to grab the brass ring, but the Braves definitely got more for their money.