After blowing another late lead on Wednesday, many are beginning to question the effectiveness of the Atlanta Braves bullpen despite the sparkling numbers.
As a fan, one of the most painful experiences you can endure is watching your team blow a lead late. It feels like that has happened a lot this year for the Atlanta Braves — and that’s because it has.
They currently have the third most blown saves in all of baseball with 20, according to FanGraphs.
That stat can be a bit misleading as good teams are going to have more save opportunities, and thus, will have more blown saves.
In fact, the four teams with the most blown saves this year all have records of .500 or better. Five teams ranked in the top 10 for most blown saves are all current playoff teams.
For the Braves, in particular, you can’t pin it on one guy, they’ve all blown their fair share. After Wednesday’s blown save, Collin McHugh leads the team with 5. Kenley Jansen has 4, A.J. Minter and Will Smith each have 3, and Dylan Lee has 2 while Darren O’Day, Spencer Strider, and Jackson Stephens each have 1.
Braves Bullpen by the Numbers
If you just strictly look at the numbers for the Braves bullpen they will indicate this is a top five bullpen in all of baseball.
Here are their MLB ranks:
ERA: 5th (3.21)
WHIP: 5th (1.16)
K/9: 2nd (10.29)
BB/9: 6th (3.09)
HR/9: 4th (0.87)
Avg Agst: 5th (.216)
xFIP: 4th (3.65)
You can’t deny those numbers — overall, this has been one of the best bullpens in all of baseball.
So why so many blown saves?