The Braves might go as far as their new-look bullpen allows.
When the Braves went bold at the trade deadline, it wasn’t merely with the National League East in mind. They were up 6-1/2 games July 31, fresh off taking two of three in Philadelphia and Washington. They were clearly the best team in the division and asserting themselves as the NL’s second-best squad.
Perhaps the team could’ve made more modest additions, continuing its conservative approach and seeing how the team fared in October. Simply put, the Braves were too good for that result. General manager Alex Anthopoulos needed to make more substantial moves.
He did. The Braves already on July 30 acquired command artist Chris Martin from the Rangers, a veteran with closing experience who excelled in a specific area the Braves needed most: Not walking hitters.
They followed that up with two bigger additions July 31. The team acquired all-star closer Shane Greene from the Tigers outbidding the Dodgers in the process. It added Mark Melancon from the Giants, assuming $14 million in 2020 salary to do so.
“Everyone knows this team has a real good chance to win this thing,” first baseman Freddie Freeman said at the time. “When you play well and get rewarded by your front office, it fires up everybody in your clubhouse.”
With that trio, the Braves remade the back end of their bullpen. A weakness suddenly seemed a potential strength. And while the results weren’t immediate – Greene especially underperformed early in his Braves tenure – when they rounded into shape, it was everything the Braves wanted.
Martin owns a 4.15 ERA in 19 games with the Braves, but his 1.68 FIP indicates he’s been stricken with bad luck. The Braves will count on him in a seventh-inning role and as a player who can induce a ground ball when needed.
Melancon’s deeper numbers also project better than his surface stats (a 4.12 ERA vs. a 1.72 FIP with the Braves). He assumed primary closer duties when Greene struggled, but the closer role may well be shared in October depending on the situation. Melancon is 11-for-11 in save opportunities with the Braves.
Greene, the arm the Braves needed to rebound the most, did so with a 13-inning scoreless streak that carried into September. The right-hander has looked like a new man since allowing runs in four of his first six appearances with Atlanta.
Imagine the bullpen today without those three (or even with just Martin). Anthopoulos’ trade-deadline aggression proved the legitimate boost it appeared to be that day. The Braves projected entirely difference with their new trio.
But October doesn’t care about one’s advanced metrics. All that matters now are the results. For the Braves to make a run – or even just win a postseason series – they need their bullpen at its absolute best. That begins and ends with the three newcomers, who can immortalize that deadline day in Braves history with a lights-out postseason.
