Atlanta Braves: no relief arm shortage… except for one side

The Atlanta Braves new bullpen configuration is clearly strong, but with one possible shortcoming.

In the enumeration of new and returning Atlanta Braves relievers, there’s a lot of veterans, to be sure, but most all of them share a common trait… they are right-handed dominant.

Of those most probable to be on this next Spring’s 25 man active roster, Will Smith is the lone sinister-side slinger… unless Sean Newcomb ends up with an outfield seat vantage point rather than being in the main rotation come next April.

Right now, here are the names involved:

• Smith (L)
• Shane Greene (R)
• Mark Melancon (R)
• Chris Martin (R)
• Darren O’Day (R)
• Luke Jackson (R)
• Newcomb? (L)

Assuming for the moment that Newcomb doesn’t appear in the pen, that’s a single lefty in Will Smith… and he’s one that you’d generally wish to avoid using prior to (at least) the 8th inning.

If Newcomb does become a starter once again, that leaves a gap in the relief corps’ numbers if a more-or-less standard 12 man contingent is used, though for 2020 it could be that two spots are open if the proposed 26-man roster becomes a reality.

Last season, Jerry Blevins was among those employed to give hitters that ‘other’ look, but he’s a few agent… so far.

So this lack of lefties might limit major league opportunities for pitchers like Grant Dayton, Chad Sobotka, Jacob Webb or Jeremy Walker.  One might expect one of that group to join the big club, but perhaps not even 2 since all come at hitters from the 3rd base side.

Instead, A.J. Minter might have a chance at redemption. That is… he might if his shoulder is up to the task. Minter was put onto the injured list in mid-September… never mind his struggles otherwise (major league ERA over 7.00 in 2019).

But right now, this lineup of trustworthy relievers is clearly righty-heavy and that may require the Atlanta Braves to pick up yet another bullpen arm at some point along the way. As it is, only O’Day could be thought of as giving teams a ‘different look’.

That could be Blevins again or one of numerous free agent options currently roaming the streets and looking for work.

These names include several that might be familiar: Luis Avilan, Tony Cingrani, Ross Detwiler, Jake Diekman, Zach Duke, Derek Holland, Drew Pomeranz, Hector Santiago, Tony Sipp, and at least that many more.

Some of them will be a bit pricey to obtain (Pomeranz) and others… not so much.

Given that this would not be considered an especially pressing concern for Atlanta unless (or until) bad things happen in the Spring, this isn’t something that we should expect to see changing any time soon.

Relief pitchers – especially those who would be targeted for the middle innings – are not especially rare commodities as teams add and subtract them as easily as changing uniforms.

That said, the specter of the 3 batter minimum rule change will weigh into the decision. The LOOGY’s (Left-handed One Out Guys) are about to be relegated to the archive of baseball history.

That will make for some interesting innings when teams don’t have a quality LTOG (Left-handed Three Out Guy).  Too bad… the old acronym rolls off the tongue much better.

So for now – especially as we won’t have a handle on the status or either Newcomb or Minter for 3 more months – let’s merely take a note of the situation and not be surprised when a southpaw is selected to finish off the pen as teams prepare to head north from Florida at the end of March.