The Atlanta Braves boast one of baseball’s top bullpen trios in Dylan Lee, Robert Suarez, and Raisel Iglesias. Beyond those three, the rest of Atlanta’s relief corps has also performed well throughout the season.
Having Suarez and Iglesias work consecutive innings creates a formidable late-game combination, and Lee’s presence only strengthens the group. At one stage, the three relievers had surrendered a combined total of just three earned runs.
“There’s a good chance the Braves could have preserved the 2-1 lead they gained in the fifth had they had their three All-Star caliber relievers — Dylan Lee, Robert Suarez and Raisel Iglesias — available. The trio has combined to allow three earned runs over 54 1/3 innings,” MLB.com’s Mark Bowman wrote.
The Braves have had some bullpen issues at times. Aaron Bummer was released over a week ago due to a significant drop in performance.
“The Braves announced Tuesday that they’ve released left-handed reliever Aaron Bummer and placed catcher Drake Baldwin on the 10-day injured list due to an oblique strain. Atlanta also activated lefty Dylan Dodd from the 10-day IL, recalled righty Victor Mederos from Triple-A, selected the contract of catcher Chadwick Tromp and optioned right-hander JR Ritchie to Triple-A,” MLB Trade Rumors’ Steve Adams wrote.
When Bummer was released, that left Lee as the only reliable left-handed short-inning option out of the bullpen. Dodd is a lefty, but he has mainly been used in blowout situations. There is belief that Atlanta could trade for former reliever AJ Minter.
“I’ll call it now with a $5 bet that the Braves acquire AJ Minter at the deadline in two months,” Battery Power’s Scott Coleman wrote.
Minter was just activated by the New York Mets, which is why a potential trade would be unusual. Division rivals typically do not make deals with each other, but Coleman believes it could still happen.
Minter is on a $22 million deal with the Mets, which could be an acceptable price for the Braves to absorb. Bringing Minter back to Atlanta would give them a strong left-handed option when Lee is unavailable. He is a pitcher who could certainly see time in the seventh inning of close games.
