A Dylan Lee Appreciation Post

If the MLB All-Star Game were held tomorrow, it would be an absolute travesty if Dylan Lee were not included.

The Braves left-handed reliever has arguably been the most effective bullpen arm in all of baseball through the first seven weeks of the season, sporting both an ERA and FIP below one while appearing in a league-leading 21 games.

Lee is finally beginning to receive the recognition he deserves from the fan base, and hopefully the national media follows suit as the All-Star Game approaches. But the funny thing is, this isn’t exactly new. Lee has quietly been one of the best relievers in baseball for years now, despite lacking the eye-popping velocity, flashy repertoire, or clearly defined role that usually earns pitchers this kind of attention.

Take a trip back to 2021 for a second — the year Lee signed a minor-league contract with the Atlanta Braves after spending several years grinding through the Miami Marlins farm system. That season, he made just two appearances during the regular season and posted a rather ugly 9.00 ERA. Yet somehow, he found himself starting Game 4 of the World Series.

There may not be a better summary of Dylan Lee’s entire Braves tenure than that.

From the moment he arrived in Atlanta, he’s filled every role imaginable. Need an opener? He’s done it. Long relief? No issue. High leverage? Lefties? Righties? Doesn’t matter. Lee has consistently taken the ball wherever the Braves have needed him, and he’s done it with a level of reliability few relievers in baseball can match, posting a 2.64 career ERA over 219 appearances.

But the 2026 version of Dylan Lee, this is a different beast. Take a look at some of these underlying numbers:

• 100th percentile xERA
• 96th percentile xBA
• 96th percentile Chase%
• 98th percentile Whiff%
• 96th percentile K%
• 99th percentile BB%
• 84th percentile Average Exit Velocity

There’s nothing fluky about what Dylan Lee is doing right now.

When the Braves signed Robert Suarez during the offseason, the expectation was that Atlanta would possess a devastating one-two punch at the back end of games alongside Raisel Iglesias. Instead, that duo has quickly evolved into a three-headed monster, one that’s already slammed the door on countless close games and become a primary reason why the Braves sit at 30-13 and 10 games clear atop the NL East.

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