Modern baseball philosophy has trended away from once-unwavering thoughts of committing relievers to specific innings. The Braves aren’t an exception.
The bullpen, walks notwithstanding, has been a team strength through 17 games. The current eight-man group owns a 1.35 ERA with 56 strikeouts across 54 appearances. It’s surrendered just one homer.
Their ERA balloons to 3.09 overall in 67 1/3 innings, though that includes Jose Ramirez's bloated 17.05 number. Ramirez, one of the few relievers struggled, was placed on the disabled list Wednesday with shoulder inflammation.
The Braves have done it with mostly undefined roles. Arodys Vizcaino is the closer, and manager Brian Snitker hasn’t hesitated to use him in tough spots and/or tied games.
The rest of the unit is fluid, and that’s benefited the team, Snitker says.
“Obviously you’d like a couple big hairy guys down there who you know are going to pitch the seventh, eighth, ninth inning, but this is good for these guys,” he said. “It’s good for us. We put them in high-leverage situations and see how they react, and it’s been good.”
Neither Jesse Biddle nor Lucas Sims has pitched since joining the bullpen Wednesday and Monday, respectively.
Sam Freeman had been exceptional before back-to-back underwhelming outings in which he issued five walks in 1-1/3 innings. The first was Saturday in Chicago, almost a write-off because of frigid conditions. He issued three consecutive walks without registering an out.
Peter Moylan has been a reliable situational option, appearing in eight games and tossing 4-1/3 scoreless innings. Snitker had high praise for Dan Winkler, who he said has regained form after a struggling spring.
A.J. Minter allowed his first run Wednesday while pitching in the ninth. He had eight scoreless outings to start the season.
Shane Carle has been the most pleasant surprise in the bullpen, if not the whole team. He’s allowed two runs in eight appearances, pitching more than an inning five times and providing needed length.
“It’s been really nice to see,” Snitker said. “Not knowing him coming in, knowing much about him, (bench coach) Walt (Weiss) had had him and knew something of him, but seems like every year there’s somebody who’s really going to take advantage of the situation or come on that you don’t expect.”
Carle was an unheralded hero in Wednesday’s game. He entered with two on and one out in the sixth for starter Brandon McCarthy. Carle struck out Phillies slugger Rhys Hoskins and induced a weak grounder from Nick Williams to finish the inning.
“That was a pretty big out there,” Snitker said of Carle striking out Hoskins. “That’s probably one of the most dangerous hitters in baseball right now. That kid is something else. You don’t know, when you’re facing that guy, if you have a good matchup for him. He did a great job right there. That’s huge.
“His stuff just keeps getting better. The more responsibility, the higher situation that he gets into, he’s been really, really good.”
The overall success has given Snitker trust that he can plug and play any of his arms as needed.
“It just adds to the versatility,” he said. “There’s going to be some times guys are down. They’re going to have to step up and do a different situation. And right now we’ve already had guys in different situations, and they’ve responded, which is good to see.”
