For all of the Atlanta Braves' faults as a team, and they do have their fair share of them, their bullpen hasn't really been one of them. Atlanta's relief corps has been one of the better units in all of baseball this season, and the few guys that have struggled (Aaron Bummer, Tyler Kinley) eventually got sent packing. The largest blemish on the Braves' bullpen has been Robert Suarez's injury, and even that seems to be heading in the right direction.
The Braves made the somewhat surprising decision to add Suarez on three-year, $45 million deal last offseason. It wasn’t that Atlanta wasn't expected to add a reliever, but few expected Alex Anthopoulos to go out and get arguably the best bullpen arm on the market given the team's other needs. That decision was looking very wise through his first 31 appearances for the Braves before inflammation in his throwing elbow put him on the shelf.
After a long wait since mid-June, it looks like Suarez is on track to return. His bullpens have seemingly gone well, and he threw live BP on Sunday as his next step. As a bullpen arm, any sort of rehab assignment this time of year is likely to be short, but that means that someone on the Braves' roster is about to lose their job, and one of the team's new faces may be at the top of the list.
Robert Suarez's return to Braves may not bode well for Bailey Falter
Upon his return, Suarez is very likely to slot back into his role as one of the Braves' high-leverage relievers alongside Raisel Iglesias. That is a given. Figuring out who could lose their job once he is activated is a bit trickier, although narrowing down the list is pretty straightforward.
Iglesias, Dylan Lee, Didier Fuentes, Dylan Dodd, and Brent Suter are safe. That leaves Ray Kerr, Victor Mederos, and Bailey Falter. Kerr feels relatively safe as a lefty with swing-and-miss stuff, and Mederos has been very helpful as an energetic, hard-throwing right-handed reliever. That leaves Falter, who hasn't really done much since Atlanta acquired him in the Lane Thomas trade at the deadline.
If the Braves insist on trying to preserve as much pitching depth as possible, one could argue they should option Mederos again and not risk losing anyone permanently. However, Falter could probably sneak through waivers and get back to Gwinnett, given his very limited time in the big leagues this season, and Mederos makes Atlanta's 'pen significantly better. In the middle of a playoff race, you need to put your best foot forward, and that probably means keeping Mederos around and risking losing Falter.
Whatever the Braves decide, their bullpen is about to get a boost from Suarez's return if he is close to healthy. The details do matter here, but the net result is a much deeper bullpen heading into the most critical portion of their season.
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