Atlanta Braves Morning Chop – the Bullpen and new arrivals
After series of moves, what will Braves’ bullpen look like?
CORY McCARTNEY /FOX SPORTS SOUTH
There’s one certainty surrounding the Braves’ bullpen this season: nothing is certain.
Well, that’s not entirely true.
Craig Kimbrel, who has won four straight National League saves titles, remains the anchor. But it’s what route manager Fredi Gonzalez takes to get to the game’s best closer that is much more clouded than it was mere days ago after Atlanta’s latest roster move.
Gone are three of the team’s top four in relief innings last season in David Carpenter (61), Anthony Varvaro (54) and Jordan Walden (50).
Last week, Carpenter was traded, along with Chasen Shreve to the Yankees for starting pitching prospect Manny Banuelos. That comes after Varvaro was sent to the Red Sox for minor league reliever Aaron Kurcz, while Walden was part of the swap that landed Jason Heyward with the Cardinals.
All of those arms were key to group that is a season removed from equaling the majors’ lowest bullpen ERA since 1990 and last year was 11th at 3.31.
That leaves David Hale (87 1/3), Kimbrel (61 2/3) and Luis Avilan (43 1/3) as the only players who threw more than 25 innings in ’14, meaning Atlanta’s bullpen is going to have a very different look.
[ Ed. Note: McCartney goes on to point out that many of the new arrivals generally had down – or bad – years in 2014 and will need a rebound in 2015. ]
Next: Braves Acquire Angels' 2nd Best Pitching Prospect
Braves signees Grilli, Pierzynski fired up though roles less prominent
Jul 26, 2014;
Jason Grilli(39) reacts as he earned a save in the game against the Detroit Tigers Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
Former closer Jason Grilli and former All-Star catcher A.J. Pierzysnki are both 38 and prepared to fill less-prominent roles after signing as free agents with the Braves. That doesn’t, however, mean that either is ready to go gentle into that good night. At all.
“I’m 38 years old but I don’t feel it. I work hard in the offseason. I’m not a guy that just putzes around. I want to play this game. I suck the bone marrow out of life and out of baseball. With it, it’s keeping me living, and I live for this game. It’s been a grind for me to get to where I’m at.”
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Or consider this from Pierzynski, who has a reputation for rubbing some people the wrong way and was voted the most hated man in baseball in a 2012 Men’s Journal survey of 100 major leaguers: “I tell people all the time, I’ll do whatever it takes to help my team win. If you need me to fight the guy, I’ll fight the guy. If you need me to do this, I’ll do whatever it takes. But at the end of the day I want to win the game. And for three hours, I don’t care who’s pitching (for the other team). Mark Buerhle is one of my good friends and when we’re facing him I want to kill him, and then afterwards we’ll go have a beer. For those three hours I want to beat your tail.”
Pierzynski brings old fire to new role as mentor with Braves
CORY McCARTNEY / FOX SPORTS.COM
ATLANTA — Over the last 14 years, A.J. Pierzynski has played in no fewer than 102 games, the most of any catcher in that span.
Joining the Braves on a one-year, $2 million deal that was finalized Wednesday, all but cemented that will come to an end. But he knows exactly what he’s getting into.
Catcher
A.J. Pierzynski(12) after the eighth inning against the Chicago Cubs at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Scott Rovak-USA TODAY Sports
Atlanta already has its backstop of the present and the future in Christian Bethancourt, the 23-year-old defensive wunderkind. So Pierzynski, 38, will enter a season technically in a backup role for the first time since 2000. But at its core, his new position is that of mentor.
“They (said) ‘Hey, come over and try and get the most out of this kid and teach him how to be a big-league catcher at an every day level,” Pierzynski said Wednesday at Turner Field.
That Pierzynski believes, is where Bethancourt faces the biggest learning curve. He has 29 starts under his belt, including 15 of the last 18 games last season, but Pierzynski says a small sample size can’t automatically prepare someone for the rigors of an entire season.
“I think that’s different than just being a big-league catcher,” he said. “To do it every day is a different animal than just showing up and doing it every couple days or being a young kid and not having much thrown on you.
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But joining the Braves was as much about what it symbolized as the opportunity itself. Pierzynski is an Orlando product and ever summer his parents would bring him to Fulton County Stadium, where he would stick around afterward in the parking lot to try and get autographs, some of which he still has.
“It’s just cool to be able to come here and put this hat on and put this jersey on and say at some point ‘I was an Atlanta Brave,'” he said.