A deeper look at Shane Greene’s first two outings with Atlanta Braves

The new closer for the Atlanta Braves, Shane  Greene, has not had a great start. We take a deeper look to see if there is cause for concern.

I’m not sure that a tenure with a new club could have gotten off to a worse start than what Shane Greene has experienced with the Atlanta Braves.

In his very first outing with his new team, he blew a save opportunity in the ninth. The Atlanta Braves would go on to win, making things feel a little better.

But that was not the case on Sunday when Greene entered in the 10th in a tie game and gave up what would end up being the game-winning home run to the Cincinnati Reds.

In two appearances with his new team, Shane Greene has a blown save and a loss on his record. So yeah, not exactly an ideal start.

We all knew some regression had to be coming after he posted a 1.18 ERA with the Detroit Tigers, but I don’t think anyone saw it happening all at once, and so quickly.

I’m not trying to toot my own horn or say that Greene won’t be great for the Atlanta Braves going forward, but this is why I wasn’t high on the Braves trading for him.

You have a guy with a career ERA 4.50 who is coming off a season in which he posted a 5.12 ERA in 63.1 innings.

It just makes me nervous trading for buy-high players like Greene who don’t have a long track record of success. That’s why I preferred someone on the cheap end like Alex Colome, but perhaps he wasn’t available.

Brian Jordan also talked about on the post-game show about how he was worried if Greene could handle the pressure closing for a playoff contender.

There isn’t near as much pressure closing games for a Detroit team not going nowhere.

But again, I’m not calling this trade a bust and I think it was a great move to bring in Shane. He will settle in for the Atlanta Braves and be a big contributor in the bullpen, but don’t expect clean outings in the ninth.