The Insane Run of Atlanta Braves Closer Raisel Iglesias

The Atlanta Braves beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 3-2, on Thursday night to clinch a major-series win. Both wins in the series saw closer Raisel Iglesias come in and slam the door in the ninth.

Iggy CLOSED. #BravesCountry pic.twitter.com/XCa1z14qXq
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) August 23, 2024

Two scoreless innings and two big saves in two much-needed wins. But this is only a tiny sample size of the insane run that Iglesias has been on the last couple months. No one on the pitching staff, not even the guy chasing the Cy Young and pitching Triple Crown.

Let’s roll it back a couple months.

On June 16, Iglesias gave up two runs in the ninth to the Tampa Bay Rays in an 8-6 loss for Atlanta. Why does this specific game matter? It’s the last time this pitcher gave up an earned run.

Iglesias has pitched 23 consecutive scoreless innings across 21 appearances. He’s allowed a single unearned run on four hits and one walk while striking out 29. His ERA has dropped from 2.70 to 1.45. His WHIP for the season is now just 0.62 and he has 10 saves during this stretch.

If the raw minuscule number of baserunners didn’t do enough to show how dominant he has been, let’s look at the slash line. Hitters have a slash line of .056/.081/.085/.161 when they face Iglesias.

Iglesias gave up runs in back-to-back appearances on May 10 and May 11. It was the only occurrence this season in which he gave up runs in back-to-back appearances. Since he did this, he has allowed just three earned runs with a 0.81 ERA in 32 appearances.

He’s been virtually untouchable.

Again, it’s a testament to what the Braves can do with these veteran relievers.

Iglesias had been a good pitcher in Cincinnati with the Reds and even his first season in Anaheim with the Angels. But he had one season go awry and the Angels had no trouble shipping him off to the Braves.

When looking at his pitch breakdown on Baseball Savant, the Braves mixed up his pitch usage. His primary pitch went from his four-seam fastball to his changeup. He’s also heavily reduced the use of his slider. It was one of his most used pitches for most of his career.

These moves have paid off.

With the win the Braves closed the gap on the Phillies to six games, and kept the Mets 1.5-games back in the Wild Card chase.

This is the type of night that the Braves need as they push to lock down a playoff spot. Come playoff time, having an untouchable closer in the ninth inning is the nail in the coffin for the opponent.

Yes, the Braves do need to get to the ninth in order to capitalize on this, and they haven’t been doing that as much in 2024. But they’ve been good to go when they have, and not every team can say that’s the case.

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