When the Atlanta Braves moved on from Enyel De Los Santos and Rafael Montero, there was a collective cheer from Braves fans. De Los Santos was an adventure seemingly every time he came out of the bullpen and designating him for assignment was a welcome development. Montero was markedly worse as he was responsible for multiple bullpen meltdowns. That the Braves found a willing trade partner for Montero felt like a miracle. However, the picture is much cloudier a few weeks later.
Initially, it felt like letting De Los Santos go and trading Montero was addition by subtraction for the Braves' bullpen and their new teams would find that out soon enough. Instead, what has transpired is that both relievers are seemingly thriving with their new teams and that should raise some real questions regarding how the Braves utilized them and if there are deeper issues in play.
Both Enyel De Los Santos and Rafael Montero seem to be thriving since leaving the Braves
To be fair to the Braves, there were a lot of very good reasons to move on from both of these guys. De Los Santos gave up a lot of big innings with Atlanta and has now played for five different organizations over the last two seasons. The latter isn't exactly a ringing endorsement of his work on the mound. As for Montero, he was famously terrible after signing an extension with Houston and most thought that the Braves' acquisition of him was doomed from the start.
As a result, it is honestly weird that both relievers are thriving with their new teams who both are very much in contention for playoff spots. De Los Santos has been carrying Houston's bullpen in the wake of some brutal inuries and in 14 appearances with the Astros, he has a 1.29 ERA and 3.64 FIP. That sure would have been nice coming out of the Braves' bullpen.
Montero hasn't been as good with Detroit, but it has still been a significant improvement over his time in Atlanta. After posting a 5.50 ERA in 36 appearances with the Braves, Montero has put up a 2.40 ERA and 4.41 FIP in his 12 appearances with the Tigers. He is still walking WAY too many batters and that is going to come back to bite him eventually (hopefully), but it is hard to ignore how much better he has been.
Why can't the Braves get the most out of some of these midseason pickups that other teams can? Are the Braves' pitching coaches falling short? Do the Braves have a model for pitching strategy that is fundamentally flawed or that doesn't translate well for some pitchers? Has Anthopoulos lost his touch when it comes to adding clearance aisle arms? Our best guess is there is some combination of all those factors, but it sure doesn't feel great right now. Hopefully the Braves can take a hard look at themselves and make some changes.