Bullpen woes continue for the Atlanta Braves. Since the All-Star Break their 7.03 ERA ranks as baseball’s worst. Reinforcements added at the deadline didn’t help, but adding Bryse Wilson to the pen can.
The Atlanta Braves are far from the only team with a bullpen that sends fans searching for their antianxiety medication. In the first half, the bullpen everyone moaned about produced a 3.69 ERA, good enough for second-best in baseball. Things looked less rosy when perusing peripherals like the #15 ranked 4.51 FIP, #12 ranked 1.3 HR/9 and 4.0 BB/9
GM Alex Anthopoulos acquired three arms at the deadline to shore up a staggering bullpen, but that’s yet to happen; it took under a week for Luke Jackson to earn another save. Along with baseball’s worst ERA, the Atlanta Braves pen also features an MLB worst .377 wOBA, batting average against –.308 – and OBP –.397.
Opposing hitters slug .495 against Braves relievers, that ranks #27 in MLB, ahead of only the Orioles, Rockies and Marlins. In fairness to heavy groundball pitchers Jackson, Mark Melancon, Anthony Swarzak and Shane Greene, infield defense caused or failed to stop things that ended up allowing runs and raising ERAs.
When that happens, it helps to have a strikeout arm on the mound. However, none of the current Atlanta Braves relief corps are strikeout pitchers compared to the best late-inning relievers. Jackson’s 30.3% leads the pack with Chris Martin (28.%) the highest of the new arms, followed by Greene (26.8%), and Melancon 23.3%.
The Braves’ system includes plenty of high-velocity arms that project as late-inning relievers. Chad Sobotka possesses the weapons of a closer, as do Huascar Ynoa, Tucker Davidson, Thomas Burrows, Trey Riley, and others. When I look at the list, one name jumps out at me as ready now; Bryse Wilson.