Braves Leave Long Relief Option on Bench as Bullpen Crumbles

The Atlanta Braves had a long relief option who could've come in after Joey Wentz's clutch start, but he was nowhere to be found, and a guaranteed win unravels

Dunning could've done the pitching staff a service Saturday night | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

The Atlanta Braves got exactly what they needed out of left-hander Joey Wentz. He pitched four scoreless innings in his first start in nearly two years. He got up to 60 pitches, throwing 63% of them for strikes. 

When he left the game, the Braves led 5-0 over the Yankees. The run support was there too. They even tacked on three more runs. All of that is good, but there was one problem. They had to get through five more innings. 

It’s a good thing they acquired a long reliever, Dane Dunning, from the Texas Rangers late Thursday night. That gives them a chance to use only two pitchers for the bulk of the innings. However, Dunning was nowhere to be seen Saturday night. He was left in the bullpen. 

The Braves instead used six relievers over those five innings. Recently called up Wander Suero gave up two earned runs. Enyel De Los Santos allowed four runs, three earned. Pierce Johnson and Dylan Lee each allowed an earned run, and Raisel Iglesias allowed a grand slam. 

Getting a better night out of Dunning wasn’t a guarantee. Even if it didn’t go well at all, he might have at least gone a couple of innings and saved a few arms. 

For what it’s worth, he can come out on Sunday and pitch after Grant Holmes. Those two together could pitch the entire game. After Saturday night’s showing, it could be the right call. He could pitch the first few innings of a game in the Giants series, too. Whatever helps the team get more innings using fewer pitchers. 

Even when something goes right during a bullpen day, it doesn’t. In the three bullpen games, and Saturday counts with Wentz starting, the Braves staff has allowed 27 runs. Wentz pitching well is a bright spot in two of them, and both times his efforts went to waste. 

They also got run support in all three of those games, but the bats couldn’t keep up. 

Snitker said a couple of weeks ago he didn’t think that they could survive with too many bullpen days. That was his gut feeling for a reason. 

The Braves will try again to take the series against the Yankees on Sunday. First pitch is set for 1:35 p.m.