Arguably the biggest strength of the Braves last year was their bullpen, which featured unbelievable depth and versatility. Led by 38 year old flamethrower Billy Wagner, the 'pen put out most fires and closed out most games when called upon. Wagner and Takashi Saito are gone, but this should continue to be a strength of the Braves. Youngsters Jonny Venters and Craig Kimbrel should handle things on the back end, with Peter Moylan, Eric O'Flaherty, and Scott Linebrink taking care of the front end.
Jonny Venters comes off a terrific rookie year, which should make him the key member of the Braves bullpen. Whether he's closing, setting up, or both, expect Fredi Gonzalez to use him early and often just as Bobby Cox did. Venters has one of the best fastballs you will see, not because he throws in the mid 90s but because he gets great sink on it as well. 68.4% of balls in play against Venters were on the ground, which is a phenomenal number. Combine that with over 10 Ks per 9 innings and you have a decent reliever. His command is the key, as long as his fastball is finding the plate, he should be fine. However, it moves so much that he can struggle with it. Aim for the middle, Jonny, and things will be fine.
Venters' main partner in crime will probably be Craig Kimbrel, and his stuff might be better than Venters. The possessor of 2 plus-plus pitches (fastball and slider), Kimbrel only needs consistent command to become an elite reliever in MLB. He showed improved command when he came back up in September, and boy was he good from that point. In just 20.2 innings, he struck out 40 (!) batters, good enough for a 17.42 K rate, or almost 2 batters per inning. Obviously, it's tough to score if you can't hit the ball. It's a small sample size, but that number speaks for itself. His K/BB was over 4 to 1 in September, and he'll be lethal if he can get anywhere close to that number again.
One of the other returning leaders of a solid pen is sidewinding Australian Peter Moylan, who first joined the Braves after a successful showing in the inaugural World Baseball Classic, and any worms in the Turner Field infield have paid the price ever since. Moylan throws a low 90s fastball that nobody can elevate, posting ridiculous groundball rates throughout his career. Last years ground ball rate was 67.8%, and Moylan routinely got other Braves pitchers out of jams by inducing double play grounders. He strikes out over 7 per 9 innings as well, which is solid, but he walks too many hitters to be terribly comfortable with him. He bails himself out with all the ground balls, but fewer base runners would help his cause out. Still, he is a solid experienced set up man.
From the left side, Fredi Gonzalez can turn to Eric O'Flaherty, who was picked up off the scrap heap from Seattle 2 seasons ago and has turned into one of the better left handed relievers in the National League. Despite having injury/illness problems last year, he continued to get left handed hitters out when called upon. O'Flaherty keeps the ball on the ground, and has decent command as well. Although not as good against right handers (because he struggles with location against righties), he can be called upon in many situations to pitch a full inning if he is needed.
However, that is not the case with Atlanta's 3rd left handed reliever. Judging by his stats last year, George Sherrill should have a sign over top of him that says, "Break Glass Only in Case of Emergency against RH Batters." Right handers hit .427 against Sherrill last year with a .516 OBP and .707 slugging percentage. His command completely abandoned him, walking almost as many as he struck out. He hasn't had a great spring either, but it was only in 2009 that he posted a 1.70 ERA while posting a K:BB ratio of 2.5:1. Plus, despite his putrid season numbers last year, he was still murder against left handed hitters, with left handed batters posting a .196/.286/.288 triple slash against him. Thus, he should have a role, but how big that role will be determined by how he throws early on.
Scott Linebrink brings another veteran presence to the bullpen, and he will be glad to get out of the homer haven that is US Cellular Field. Linebrink was a fly ball pitcher pitching in one of the most notorious hitters parks in the bigs, and his home run rates ballooned accordingly. However, his command is very good, striking out over 8 per 9 innings the last 2 years while walking around 3 per 9, not bad numbers for a reliever. The Ted is a more pitcher friendly park, so I would his HR rate to drop a bit. However, he still has to do his part and keep the ball down. If he can do that, he will be an asset. Expect an untimely bomb or two to be hit off of him this year, but he should contribute positively to the cause overall.
And finally, Christian Martinez will start the season as the long man. Martinez was solid last year in limited appearances, posting a decent K rate and an excellent walk rate. His fastball is lively enough and he throws a lot of strikes, so he could soak up a few decent innings during the times the Atlanta starters falter. In 52 career innings, his FIP is 3.60. It's a limited sample size, but it does offer some hope that he can contribute positively when called upon.
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