Shane Greene showing Atlanta Braves how nasty he can be

Atlanta Braves fans rejoiced when the team acquired Detroit’s All-Star closer, Shane Greene, last season. He is one of many relievers who has looked particularly nasty this year.

The Atlanta Braves brought Shane Greene in to be the closer last season on a postseason-bound team who was struggling with the backend of the bullpen. He was handed the closer’s gig and had it taken away from him in less than ten days.

Greene gave up five earned runs in his first three appearances as an Atlanta Brave. His first five innings as an Atlanta Brave resulted in a loss, two blown saves, and seven earned runs allowed.

Despite the rough start, Greene got his head on straight and resumed being the shutdown reliever he was before the trade. The bad first impression seemed to last among Atlanta fans, though.

After those first five innings, Shane Greene finished the season with a 1.77 ERA between August 14 and the end of the season.

So, he was still very effective and he definitely had good stuff. But, is it just me, or does something look even better about him this year?

Atlanta Braves – Shane Greene

This season Greene’s changeup has 27% more drop on hit than the average major-league changeup. His slider is still elite with 55% more horizontal movement than the MLB average. His cutter is 127% better than major-league average in horizontal break and he’s been able to locate his sinker, which moves vertically rather than horizontally, and Mike Soroka will tell you, that’s how you want it to move in order to get it out of the swing path.

Atlanta Braves – Shane Greene vs. Brandon Drury 08/05/2020, top of the 7th

With one out in the top of the seventh last night, he had a great at-bat against Brandon Drury that really made me laugh. Greene owned the struggling Drury in the at-bat by starting him off with a nearly perfect 93 mph two-seam fastball on the inside corner that shook Drury to his core.

He followed it up with a slider that “broke about a foot and a half,” according to Chip Caray’s call on Fox Sports South. It appeared to have started off the inside of the plate and wound its way straight into Travis d’Arnaud’s glove on the outside corner.

He went back to the 93 mph two-seam fastball, but this time he put it high and right over the plate. Brandon Drury again stood frozen as he stepped out of the box to audibly curse at himself.

Sensing the frustration, Travis d’Arnaud called for the two-seamer one more time and he barely had to move his glove as Greene smoothly moved his sinker into the webbing of TDA’s mitt. This time the fastball was perfectly placed over the outside corner. Drury was unable to pick up the two-seamer again and watched strike three go by. He turned in dejection and walked off, thinking about all of the cuss-words he was going to drop on himself in the mirror tonight. He looked up for support from his teammates but all he saw was a haze of disappointment.

Greene finished Alford in the next at-bat with a slider that looked like it took a 90-degree turn halfway to the plate, finishing about a foot off the plate. If you have MLB.tv, go back and watch Shane Greene’s seventh inning last night. It was a thing of beauty.

Greene has yet to allow an earned run on the season.

The reality is, Shane Greene has been nasty ever since August 14 of last season, his first five innings skewed our perspective a little. Even with his rough first stretch, he has a total ERA of 3.45 as an Atlanta Brave.