For the first time all season, the Atlanta Braves are back to .500! After a soul-crushing 0-7 start to the year, Atlanta has clawed and scratched its way back to playing some fairly decent baseball of late. Unfortunately, one area of the team continues to drag things down: The bullpen is not what it once was, as illustrated by closer Raisel Iglesias instilling fear in precisely zero Major Leaguers right now.
Iglesias' struggles have resulted in Atlanta playing in far too many extra-innings games for my liking. It also led to Pierce Johnson getting the save opportunity against a reeling Washington Nationals squad to get back to .500 on Tuesday night. Johnson got the save, but it did not exactly look pretty. Fortunately for the Braves, there is a Hall of Fame-level closer waiting for them down in the Minors in Craig Kimbrel.
Chase Irle of Sports Talk ATL did a great job of explaining the road back to the big leagues for Kimbrel after last year's disastrous ending for him with the Baltimore Orioles. He starting this season out with the Braves' Double-A affiliate down in Columbus before making his way to Triple-A Gwinnett. There are no guarantees Kimbrel will make it back to Atlanta, but Iglesias' continued struggles may expedite things.
Iglesias may not be a candidate to be sent down, but Atlanta cannot waste a good turnaround on a struggling closer.
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Craig Kimbrel could be Raisel Iglesias panacea for Braves' Brian Snitker
This has been a much different season for Braves skipper Brian Snitker than any other in the last decade. It could be his last year managing the club with potential retirement rumors brewing. On top of that, the awful start to the season has forced Snitker's hand in many ways we in Braves Country were not expecting. He used to set his lineup and forget it. Now, he has to tinker with it every day.
The starting rotation is starting to resolve itself with Chris Sale and AJ Smith-Shawver pitching much better of late. As for the lineup, the hitting is coming around at various spots of the batting order. The biggest challenge there now is how to get Drake Baldwin in the lineup more often, and how to slowly break it to Ozzie Albies that his left-handed swing has more holes in it than a fishing net.
Truth be told, Irle was right in his assessment that outside of Iglesias, most of the Atlanta bullpen has held up its end of the bargain. It was far rockier at first, but water has found its level. To me, bringing Kimbrel back would be both sentimental and potentially a way to raise the entire floor of the bullpen. He knows this is it for him. It would be great to see him finish his illustrious career in Atlanta.
Fortunately for everyone, baseball has a way of working these sort of things out. Only time will tell ...