It has been a long time since Dylan Lee had to go to his spot. Lee debuted with the Atlanta Braves during their magical 2021 World Series-winning season. While he joined a bullpen chock full of stars, so much has changed in the four years since: No longer are the veterans asking him to go to his good luck spot in the bathroom to help the Braves win. They need him to go out in the ninth and shove, bro!
The Braves improved to 36-41 on the season on Monday night by taking the opener of their road series at the arch rival New York Mets, 3-2. Ronald Acuña Jr. homered, Spencer Schwellenbach got the win and Lee got a huge four-out save. His blistering 1.77 ERA has finally grabbed the attention of the sleepy Braves' coaching staff. He should have been the team's closer all along. No more Raisel Iglesias nonsense.
For the better part of a decade now, the Braves have often had inconsistent closers that keep the Atlanta faithful up at night. Whether it was Will Smith, Kenley Jansen or Iglesias, the results were usually the same. Up until this season, Atlanta's middle relief and set-up men had pitched well. But outside of Lee, 2025 has been a really trying season for much of the Braves' bullpen.
Now, though, the lefty looks like he might be the answer. Look at this absolutely filthy slider Lee got Juan Soto to chase on a 3-2 count to escape a jam in the eighth inning.
Slider of the year, courtesy of Dylan Lee pic.twitter.com/W3u24aYyVo
— Lindsay Crosby, big baseball guy (@CrosbyBaseball) June 24, 2025
It never had to be this hard, but for the time being, Lee looks like a pitcher who is built to close games.
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Dylan Lee might be the solution the Atlanta Braves need at closer
While the chances of the Braves catching Philadelphia in the division may be slim, they are playing better baseball of late. They have won seven of their last 10 games, including four in a row over the Mets. Although they did lose two of three down in Miami, these sort of things happen when the Braves take their talents to South Beach. In the meantime, this is the team I thought I was hoping for.
What has been so painfully frustrating in watching the Braves' closer situation over the last several years is they are hardly ever putting a guy out there who has impeccable stuff. Not to say they are all soft-tossers, but I really do miss the gas from Craig Kimbrel and John Smoltz back in the day. You could say I am spoiled. With Lee, I find his breaking pitches and deceptive delivery to be a big boost.
Overall, this is a guy I would love to see the Braves' staff empower more. I am so done with the enabling of guys who are not fit to man the closer role. Saves might be the most empty-calorie nonsense stat in the book of baseball, but I do respect the emotional component of it. Whenever this guy toes the rubber in the ninth inning, it is game over for the other guys. Maybe Lee can be that?
Monday's hard-fought victory over the Mets could serve as a stepping stone for the Braves this year.