It’s difficult to complain about anything with a 22-10 record, but Thursday afternoon’s series finale with the Detroit Tigers did highlight one of the Atlanta Braves’ few flaws.
As a whole, the Braves bullpen has been arguably the best in baseball. However, the unit is largely carried by the high-leverage group — Dylan Lee, Raisel Iglesias, Robert Suarez, and Tyler Kinley — all of whom have been essentially unhittable through the first month-plus of the season. The highest ERA among that group belongs to Kinley, and it sits at a minuscule 1.29 over 15 appearances.
After that, though, things start to look a little bleak. Aaron Bummer looks like a shell of the player he’s been in the past, while Joel Payamps and José Suárez are sporting ERAs of 8.22 and 6.61, respectively.
Those are the arms Walt Weiss was forced to turn to in the late innings of a one-run game yesterday in order to give his high-leverage guys some rest heading into a West Coast road trip — and the result was exactly what you’d expect.
The encouraging news is that reinforcements are on the way, with Spencer Strider set to return on Sunday. The Braves could opt to go with a six-man rotation for a bit, but eventually, someone from that group will have to move to the bullpen, which should push one of those struggling arms out of the picture.
Atlanta will also welcome Raisel Iglesias from the IL soon, and a look at James Karinchak feels inevitable. Not long ago, Karinchak was one of the better relievers in the league, posting a 2.65 ERA over 82 appearances from 2022-2023. Injuries have kept him out of the league since, but he signed a minor-league deal with Atlanta this offseason and is currently sporting a promising 1.88 ERA over his first 11 outings with Gwinnett.
The Braves will likely stick with Bummer a bit longer given his track record — and the $9.5 million they owe him — but the other two don’t have nearly the same leash. With better arms on the way back, their time on the roster feels limited.
It wouldn’t be surprising if that process starts as early as this weekend.
—
(Photo by David J. Griffin/Icon Sportswire)
