The Atlanta Braves have had no shortage of players step up early in 2026. Apparently, Dom Smith is Babe Ruth now, and Mauricio Dubon looks like a completely different hitter, while Drake Baldwin looks even better than he did during his ROY run. Despite a litany of injuries, the Braves' rotation has largely held its own, but one part of the roster that doesn't seem to be getting enough love is the bullpen.
Most Braves fans expected Raisel Iglesias and new addition Robert Suarez to play well. However, it has been more than those two guys as Atlanta relievers currently boast the third-highest fWAR in all of baseball. Digging into the numbers a bit, Suarez and Iglesias have certainly played a big role, but they also have two names that fans don't think about enough showing out as well in Tyler Kinley and Dylan Lee.
Dylan Lee and Tyler Kinley continue to exceed expectations amidst the Braves' torrid run
Lee is a very familiar face to Braves fans as he has been a staple in the Braves' bullpen since 2021, including an appearance in the World Series that we will just pretend didn't happen. Lee has long been the Braves' choice for a reliable lefty, and while his career has been a bit up-and-down, he has looked great through eight appearances while giving up just one earned run and five hits in 7.2 innings of work.
For a little while, it seemed like Kinley wasn't going to be back with the Braves at all. While he pitched well for Atlanta after being acquired at the trade deadline, the weeks ticked by this past offseason, and Kinley was still a free agent. Thankfully, the Braves did eventually bring him back, and Kinley has rewarded them with eight strong appearances of his own to start the season, although having just five strikeouts over that span isn't ideal.
With the questions in the Braves' rotation and how Walt Weiss has managed their workload early, having arms that Atlanta can just rely on in the middle innings has been paramount. We know that the Braves are in good hands with Suarez and Iglesias at the end of games, but getting to them when starters aren't necessarily going deep into games is the real trick.
Thankfully, both Kinley and Lee have done their job and then some. Sure, there have been other clutch performances out of the bullpen here and there, and it helps when you have an offense that is capable of exploding at any given moment. That said, it is hard to see the Braves being in nearly as strong a position as they are right now without Kinley and Lee doing their thankless work.
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