Time to rethink the way Atlanta Braves use Max Fried and the bullpen

With the way the first two games have gone for the Atlanta Braves, they may have to rethink the way they use Max  Fried and the bullpen.

Going into the postseason the bullpen equation for the Atlanta Braves was very simple — Chris Martin, Shane Greene, and Mark Melancon.

How quickly things can change in the MLB postseason as suddenly there is a lot of confusion out in the Atlanta Braves bullpen.

In game one, Brian Snitker decided to use Shane Greene in the sixth inning, which was a bit unusual, but I can understand the reasoning as the Cardinals had the middle of their lineup coming up.

But still, I would have thought that was the spot for Chris Martin.

And then he used Max Fried for the seventh and had it lined up to use Martin for the eighth and Melancon for the ninth.

I’ll be the first to tell you that I think it was a mistake to bring Fried out of game one, and game two as well, but Snit had no way of knowing Martin was going to get hurt before throwing a pitch.

But still, Fried has been dominant out of the bullpen, he was the most dominant pitcher for the Atlanta Braves in game one, and in the postseason you have to ride the hot hand.

And with Melancon looking terrible in game one and shaky again in game two, you have to think the closer spot is in question.

With Martin going down and being replaced by Julio Teheran on the NLDS roster, it really throws a wrinkle into the bullpen situation.

Fried will likely have to play a bigger role in the bullpen to replace Martin, and now our game four starter is a bit of a question mark.

But how Snitker decides to deploy his bullpen arms the rest of the series, and as long as the Atlanta Braves are in the postseason, will be key.