The Atlanta Braves' bullpen continues to do fantastic work in the postseason in 2023. In last night's come from behind win in Game Two of the NLDS, Max Fried got chased after four innings and Atlanta's relievers proceeded to throw five shutout innings to keep the game close enough for the offense to do their thing.
One thing that we know about this Braves bullpen is that they are loaded with personality even with the departure of guys like Luke Jackson (who was objectively hilarious) and always seem ready to give a great quote. AJ Minter did not disappoint last night as he described the bullpen's effort last night as "nothing but heart and nuts". Here is the full quote.
2021 Braves had the pearls..
— Zach Klein (@ZachKleinWSB) October 10, 2023
2023 Braves.. thanks to AJ Minter..
“Heart and Nuts!” pic.twitter.com/1EKnGeo2yw
Minter's "heart and nuts" reminds us of the infamous "Night Shift's ready" quote
You have to love how this Braves bullpen carries itself especially in big games. They almost always come up big when the team needs them and afterwards, they are absolutely not afraid to hype themselves and the rest of the team up.
One classic example game from 2021 postseason hero Tyler Matzek who made sure the world knew that Atlanta's relievers were going to continue to get the job done by declaring that the Night Shift was ready. The list doesn't stop with the bullpen, either. Guillermo Heredia was a walking quote machine and Joc Pederson made pearls a phenomenon in Atlanta while giving some in-game audio that was both hilarious and not safe for work.
It would be easy for these guys to just give the canned answers that fans have become accustomed to hearing with cliches like "it was nice to put a win on the board", "tomorrow is another day", etc. and frankly...we get why guys do that because they don't want to get themselves in trouble or give the opposing team motivation.
However, it is FAR more entertaining to see guys have a bit of swagger about them and this entire Braves roster, not just the bullpen, has it. It isn't about disrespecting the other team or "the game" (whatever that means). It is about playing their brains out and having fun doing it. Atlanta's relief corps definitely knows they came up huge yet again in a crucial spot in the postseason and they are going to make sure that fans get their money's worth.