The Atlanta Braves started the season with one of the best bullpens in baseball. Despite them having to piece things together with less-than-optimal options, their relief core was impressive. They still carry the fifth-best ERA in baseball at 3.18 over 172.2 innings, with 62 walks and 173 strikeouts. That's nothing to sneeze at, but there have been some concerns.
Aaron Bummer turned into an absolute dud this season, and a dreadful performance against the Marlins forced the Braves to release him. Jose Suarez and Joel Payamps were terrible and eventually saw their time end.
Tyler Kinley started hot, but has really struggled lately against opponents. His slider hasn't been fooling anyone, and it's led to opponents hitting him much better. In reality, Dylan Lee, Robert Suarez, and Raisel Iglesias are a big reason the bullpen ERA is so good. They've been nearly impossible to get hits against so far this season. However, they aren't going to be able to pitch every single day. The Braves need the rest of their relief core to step things up.
The Braves need to step up and start shopping aggressively for bullpen help now
Unfortunately, the strength of the bullpen isn't as strong outside of those three. This means Alex Anthopoulos may need to press for an early bullpen trade. The problem with attempting a trade this early is that the team may have to overpay slightly.
Atlanta could look for options on the market, like former Twins pitcher Matt Bowman. Bowman was granted his release from Minnesota despite posting an impressive 1.69 ERA with 25 strikeouts and 6 walks in 21.1 innings. He has induced an impressive 54.5% groundball rate at the Triple-A level this season.
Surely, there are more options available to trade from teams that are horribly underperforming. Finding trades this early is difficult, but the Braves need to try. Waiting until the deadline could spell disaster for them. Luckily, the team has a huge lead in the division, but they don't want that to disappear.
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