The Future of the Braves (Relief Pitcher Edition)

Hopefully, there will be lots of this next season. I also love his windup. Love it.

This season, the bullpen has been a mixture of relief and fear. No one really knows how they'll pitch on a given day. For awhile, they were bad. Then, they were good for awhile. Since the Break, they've been bad, but I have to blame the injuries to the staff and Cox's bullpen usage for that along with the relievers just not pitching well. So, who is coming back/going to be there to help in the future.

Mike Gonzalez has been fantastic since coming back from Tommy John. His 3.38 ERA is a little deceiving as one appearance he gave up 3 runs in his second appearance back (and in a non-save situation) and 3 in another where he hadn't pitched for a week and was already down by 5 runs. His ERA otherwise is 1.17. Along with that ERA, he has struck out 27 in 24 IP, and his WHIP is 1.13. He'll be the closer next season, and maybe the Braves will extend him a year or two.

Rafael Soriano will be the main set-up man for the Braves if he is healthy, which has been a major question mark. From what I've heard, he should be back at the beginning of the year, but you never really know I guess. If he's healthy, he should be just fine in the eighth.

Peter Moylan will be the other set-up guy, but with Tommy John, we don't really know when he'll be able to come back. I'd say he'll be a lot like Gonzalez and come back around the All-Star Break, but there's a chance he could be back sooner.

Blaine Boyer will probably be one middle reliever. His 5.30 ERA isn't good, but you have to remember that he is just coming back from being out for almost a year and half (plus, Bobby's kind of run him into the ground). Before the All-Star Game, he had a 3.93 ERA in 51 appearances, but since, he's had a 9.53 ERA in 20 more. Bobby really needs to give him a break, but I look forward to Boyer being better next year.

Jeff Bennett has been very versatile, and my guess (I can't remember if he gets arbitration or not) is he'll be back next season. He's had a 4.00 ERA and 1.40 WHIP in 83.1 IP this season. His biggest issue is that sometimes, for no apparent reason, his control totally alludes him, and his 40 BB are a perfect example (he's had 5 games with 3+ walks). If he can be a bit better (even if not), he's still a valuable long-reliever.

After that is a mystery, but Manny Acosta could certainly be an option, especially early on with Moylan out. Before his injury at the Break, Acosta had a 3.86 ERA in 42 games, so he was pretty effective, and my guess is he'll be given another opportunity next season.

In Richmond, there are a couple interesting guys. It seems we are always tantalized with Phil Stockman, the tall, lanky flamethrower, but we never get a good view of him. He's probably one of the ugliest guys I've seen, but he was perfect in Atlanta and had a 2.10 ERA in Richmond before his injury ended chances of a September call-up.

Zach Schreiber is another interesting guy to have with his 2.97 ERA, but his 26 BB in 39.1 IP is unacceptable. We can't have a middle reliever with a 1.40 WHIP, but he somehow kept the other team off the scoreboard, which has to count for something.

Jorge Julio (who I believe is a free-agent at the end of the season) might be an interesting guy to hang on to. He had a 2.04 ERA in Richmond with 45 K in 39.2 IP, but he did have 25 BB (a known weakness of his). Still, we like flamethrowers who strike people out. Watch him over the next month to see how he does.

In AA, Stephen Marek (the additional guy in the Teixeira trade) hasn't disappointed. He has a 3.21 ERA with 11 K in 14 IP. In the Texas organization, he had 57 K in 46.2 IP. Not bad, but his 1.29 WHIP may be a bit high (not too much though).

Luis Valdez may be the most intriguing of the bunch with his 2.76 ERA and 77 K in 65.1 IP, but he, too, walks a few too many with 36. At this point, he and Marek are only 24, so one more year in Richmond would be very good for their development. However, at this point, either one could probably come up and do fairly well.

I won't go any farther down because A-ball relievers just don't usually make it to the majors. However, the bullpen looks in decent shape for next year, and the sooner Moylan comes back, the better. If he's back and healthy, the back-end of the bullpen looks really good. The one thing the Braves need is a lefty reliever, which none but Gonzalez is. I would like to see the Braves retain Ohman on a three-year contract given how much money we have next season. Then, if things go badly but he still pitches well, we can trade him for a few prospects. However, I like Ohman a lot, but I didn't include him because his coming back is a bit ... precarious. Anyway, another thought would be to put Jo-Jo there to see if shorter stints might help him be more effective. I'm not sure if it would, and I think it's a little early to think that way. The Braves will probably look for a lefty reliever on the market, so I think there's a good chance they go ahead and keep Ohman for next season.