The Atlanta Braves' brawl with the Angels had several unfortunate outcomes. Not only were players (and coaches) put in jeopardy in terms of their health, but the looming specter of suspensions could cause both Atlanta and LA problems managing their rosters in the short term. However, one potential consequence of the fight showed the strength of the Braves' roster that some people are overlooking in their bullpen.
Given that the Lopez-Soler incident happened in the fifth inning, Lopez's ejection meant that Atlanta's relievers were going to have to cover four plus innings to lock down a much-needed win on the West Coast.
However, thanks to the front office's diligence this offseason and the Braves' load management during this early stretch without a day off, the bullpen was more than up to the task. In fact, it only reinforced that the Braves have one of the best bullpens in baseball at the moment.
Braves relief pitchers now lead MLB with an 0.86 ERA and an .072 WHIP. Braves' pen has been charged a league-low four earned runs, and opponents hitting just .167 (second only to the Marlins) against that group.
— Chad Bishop (@MrChadBishop) April 8, 2026
Braves' bullpen is showing to be a roster strength that Atlanta is going to leverage the rest of the season
Losing a starter unexpectedly, either to injury, ineffectiveness, or ejection, is a good way to completely ruin the best-laid bullpen plans. Even though the bullpen ended up throwing 4.1 scoreless innings, most teams would have to now worry that their bullpen was gassed heading into the team's 13th game in a row without a day off to start the season.
Despite that, the Braves have somehow managed to have one of the best and least-used relief corps in MLB so far this season. By fWAR, the Braves' bullpen ranks fourth (0.8 fWAR) behind only the Rockies(?!), Padres, and Yankees. What is wild is that they have been one of the league's most productive bullpens despite Braves relievers throwing just 41.2 innings thus far this season (18th in baseball), and that includes Atlanta using rotation arms like Didier Fuentes and Martin Perez as planned piggyback long relievers in some games.
Just like that, the Braves enter the final game of this brutal early-season stretch with a pretty fresh bullpen. They may want to stay away from Raisel Iglesias (22 pitches on Tuesday) and Robert Suarez (26 pitches), but neither reliever has pitched on back-to-back days this year and would probably be fine given that Thursday is mercifully a day off. Win or lose on Wednesday, Atlanta has already locked up a winning record for this stretch, and the bullpen is a huge reason why they were able to pull that off.