With Shane Greene No Savior, Atlanta Braves Still Battle Bullpen Blues Beállítások

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With Shane Greene No Savior, Atlanta Braves Still Battle Bullpen Blues



So far, the signing of Shane Green hasn’t helped.

Last year, the bullpen was a bulwark for the Atlanta Braves, posting a 27-0 record in games the team led after seven innings. This year, through the first 71 games of a 162-game schedule, the figures for the so-called relief corps are frightening: a 9-18 mark, 4.94 earned run average, and only 16 saves in 28 opportunities.

Entering the game against the Mets at CitiField Wednesday, the Atlanta pen had retired just 173 of 261 first batters faced and allowed 44 of 108 inherited runners to score.

Those numbers aren’t pretty. But they do explain why the Braves have never topped the .500 mark this season and never mounted a serious challenge to the front-running New York Mets in the National League East.

Unable to stay close Wednesday night after spotting New York an early 5-0 lead and narrowing the gap to 5-3, the Braves missed multiple scoring opportunities without injured outfielders Ronald Acuna Jr. and Guillermo Heredia, but also failed to keep a close game close because the bullpen imploded again.

For the fourth time in six appearances since his elevation from a month-long prep period in Triple-A, Greene was hit hard, leaving him with an earned run average of 17.33 after he yielded a walk and two singles in the bottom of the eighth. ทดลองเล่นสล็อตฟรีทุกค่าย

Greene, a 6-4, 200-pound right-hander, had pitched well for the Braves after arriving from Detroit at the 2019 trade deadline. But then his contract expired, making him a free agent.

After earning a pro-rated portion of his $6.5 million salary during the 60-game season of 2020, he returned to the Braves for a pro-rated $1.5 million on May 9. But the bearded reliever didn’t return from his minor-league tuneup until June 8. If his shoddy showing since serves as an accurate barometer, he may not have been ready.

Payroll cuts – mandated by management after the pandemic wiped out Atlanta’s game-day revenue to the tune of $100 million last year – hit the bullpen hardest.

Closer Mark Melancon, set-up man Darren O’Day, and swing man Greene were among the casualties, along with outfielders Adam Duvall and Nick Markakis. For manager Brian Snitker, any call to the bullpen immediately became the equivalent of a game of Whack-a-Mole.

Of his five lefties on call, only closer Will Smith has proven reasonably reliable. Sean Newcomb, never a control artist, has allowed nine of 15 inherited runners to score; fellow lefty A.J. Minter has blown all five of his save chances; and workhorse Tyler Matzek has suffered bouts of wildness that did not plague him last season.