Atlanta Braves savvy bullpen acquisitions may have been for multiple reasons

It’s been a while since the Atlanta Braves had a true shutdown bullpen.  In the 2020 season, there may be a much greater reason for needing one.

The numbers are quite staggering… and the Atlanta Braves were not immune from them in 2019.  It’s numbers about the epidemic of relief pitching.

In the majors, there were 16,571 separate relief appearances among 698 relievers in 2019.

In the National League alone, 357 pitchers entered 8,323 games and pitched 8700 innings combined.

In those efforts, each pitcher faced an average of 4.32 batters per (NL) inning.  There will be a few minor problems with that data, owing to the use of ‘openers’, though this remains less a phenomenon in the NL.

Overall, it translates to a WHIP of roughly 1.33.  That’s not a terrible number… but 1-2 base-runners per inning for a reliever represents the kind of situation that make a manager itch in any late-inning situation.

Additionally, there were 1,198 instances – in the National League alone – where a pitcher threw to only 1 or 2 batters before exiting the contest… 14.4% of all relief appearances.

Here’s the WHIP figures from the pitchers Atlanta ended up with in the bullpen generally relied upon to finish their season:

• Darren O’Day 0.75
• Chris Martin 1.02
• Josh Tomlin 1.11
• Mark Melancon 1.11
• Sean Newcomb 1.16
• Shane Greene 1.22
• Luke Jackson 1.40
• Oh, and Will Smith for the Giants?  1.03

Tomlin may not be there for 2020, but nearly all of these pitchers posted WHIPs under that 1.33 average, and that’s going to be important.

… because of the rule change.

We haven’t heard just yet whether Rob Manfred’s 3-batter minimum for pitchers will actually be finalized, but it seems to be widely anticipated that this will happen.  And @RingerOfBrain is right… that Braves bullpen is going to be a factor if the change happens.

Moreover, as Atlanta has accumulated this cache of experienced arms who mostly just get people out, the rest of the league has largely been forced to sit on the sidelines and watch (again) while the Braves got better.

And those teams don’t have these guys.

In an effort to reduce the number of pitching changes and, in turn, cut down the average time per game, MLB will institute a rule change beginning in 2020 that requires pitchers to either face a minimum of three batters in an appearance or pitch to the end of a half-inning, with exceptions for injuries and illnesses.  – source:  MLB.com

That minimum may not be enough to allow games to get out of hand – unless they’re already screaming on the downhill slope – but I’m liking he chances at repeatedly handing the ball to one of these bullpen aces and then seeing them walk off to the dugout with their teammates at the next half-inning break.

It’s yet another advantage these Atlanta Braves will have, and one that should translate to wins… especially if the other side falters against that same new rule.