The Atlanta Braves possess a bullpen that has the potential to become the league’s envy. Even though it’s quite likely that none of these players get selected as All-Stars, their strong depth might help them place well in terms of collective bullpen WAR once again.
Since taking over as general manager in Atlanta, Alex Anthopoulos has almost always committed resources, both financial and otherwise, to free agency and trade prospects. Even if bullpens nowadays don’t always have clear duties as they had in the past, manager Brian Snitker will still want to use these relievers in comfortable circumstances to get the most out of them.
We will now try to assemble a bullpen hierarchy, given that we are getting closer and closer to Spring Training and that we now know who will probably throw in relief for Atlanta this season. We can’t guarantee that every reliever will only appear in certain circumstances, but we can at least give our best guesses as to when fans can probably anticipate seeing their favorite relievers jog out to the mound.
The dependable and tested
Closer: Raisel Iglesias – After a season in which he accumulated over 30 saves and an ERA below 3.00, this was an easy decision. Iglesias is a fantastic option for finishing game duties because of his capacity to accumulate strikeouts and restrict walks. He could be in for an even greater 2024 if he decides to tweak his pitch mix as I discussed in my post.
Set-up: One of baseball’s most reliable relievers is A.J. Minter. Late in games, Snitker will still rely on Minter in crucial circumstances. We would anticipate Minter to be the first pick to take Iglesias’ spot if he were to miss any time due to injury.
Pierce Johnson’s setup some people possess the ability to pitch in high-leverage situations once you pass Minter. It will all depend on which players can pitch well each week. Johnson was the first player AA signed this offseason, but after he arrived at the trade deadline, he was a reliable weapon. They think a lot of him.
Middle relief/High-Leverage: Joe Jimenez – He started slowly last year, but as he got healthier the results started to become better and better. By season’s end, Jimenez was a trusted guy out of the bullpen and one Atlanta wanted to bring back. Thus, they signed him to a three-year deal to utilize the bullpen once again.
After several innings Reynaldo Lopez, the Joker Possibly the Braves bullpen’s biggest wild card rounds out this bunch. After signing in November, Lopez was instructed to arrive at camp fully prepared to potentially start as a pitcher. Since Atlanta acquired Chris Sale through a trade, there isn’t a necessity for Lopez to start right away. Lopez, though, may very well be deployed out of the bullpen in high-leverage situations as well as multi-inning assignments. Because of this, out of ALL Braves relief pitchers, Fangraphs expects him to have the greatest fWAR and the most innings pitched.
