Braves May Have No Choice With Reliever Raisel Iglesias

After a sixth straight loss Saturday afternoon, including third consecutive defeat in the last inning, the Atlanta Braves coaching staff has to feel a little like the main character toward the end of A Charlie Brown Christmas.

"Everything I touch gets ruined," shrieks Charlie Brown when his pathetic Christmas tree topples over to the point of appearing dead.

Braves manager Brian Snitker (and Walt Weiss after Snitker's ejection Saturday) have tried using a few different combinations to nail down the late innings the last few days. None of them worked. In fact, all of them backfired terribly.

At least Friday, the Braves didn't have the lead, and if one wanted to, one could at least partially blame catcher Sean Murphy for not making a better effort to block the wild pitch in the 10th inning.

But it was still Pierce Johnson's wild pitch. Then Saturday, Johnson threw a pitch that Matt Chapman crushed with two outs and a one-run lead in the ninth inning.

Both pitches resulted in walk-off losses for the Braves.

Pierce appeared in the high leverage situations the past two days because closer Raisel Iglesias has been terrible this season. Iglesias has allowed runs in eight of his last 11 appearances, which include three runs yielded Thursday versus the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Iglesias and the Braves bullpen allowed seven runs to blow the organization's first six-run lead in the ninth inning in 52 years.

The question entering Sunday as the Braves again try to end their losing streak is -- who will get the ball in the ninth if it's a save situation?

The Braves may have no choice but to try Iglesias again.

Snitker told reporters Friday night that Iglesias won't be the team's full-time closer anymore but that he could still pitch ninth innings. Reading between the lines, Snitker was saying he's going to play matchups in the ninth inning.

At first glance, that could mean Johnson against right-handers and Dylan Lee versus lefties in the ninth inning, with Iglesias sprinkled in. There's one problem, though -- Lee is experiencing reverse splits this season.

Against left-handed betters, he's yielded a .233 batting average and .780 OPS. Lee has allowed a .151 average and .494 OPS against righties.

Pierce has similar splits as a right-handed pitcher. Right-handed opponents are hitting .216 with a .588 OPS versus him while lefties are batting .294 with an .885 OPS.

Lee owns a 2.25 ERA and 0.929 WHIP in 29 appearances this season. Last year, Lee also had a sub 2.30 ERA and 1.106 WHIP. The Braves could use Lee in the ninth inning, but there's risk to that.

Again, Lee hasn't been as tough on left-handers as most southpaws are. He also has just one save in his MLB career.

Lee could face right-handed batters in the ninth. But then who do the Braves trust against left-handers?

Of the five other pitchers currently in the Braves bullpen, only two of them are left-handed -- Aaron Bummer and Dylan Dodd.

Bummer is the best option. He's yielded a .200 batting average and .551 OPS versus left-handed hitters this season. He also has five saves in his MLB career.

Overall, Bummer has a 2.73 ERA and 1.101 WHIP this season. But he hasn't recorded a save since 2022 and last season, he had a 3.58 ERA and 1.428 WHIP.

If Bummer regresses back to his performance last season, he's not really a closer option.

The other three current pitchers in the Braves bullpen are Enyel De Los Santos, Rafael Montero and José Ruiz. Similar to Bummer, De Los Santos is pitching well this season but over his head compared to his career numbers. So, there would be a lot of risk to him pitching the ninth inning.

Montero is not a closer option. Neither is Ruiz.

Where does that leave Snitker in the ninth, at least versus left-handed batters? It might be right back to Iglesias.

The Braves entered the 2025 season with a depleted bullpen because of the departures of A.J. Minter and Tyler Matazek. Losing Joe Jiménez to injury was also a major blow.

But Atlanta's one saving grace in the bullpen coming into the season was it still had Iglesias for the ninth inning. Now that Iglesias is struggling, there's not really a viable option to replace him, especially if Johnson continues to prove he can't close.

Trusting Iglesias one more time in the team's next save situation may not be the best decision, but Snitker's only choice, especially against lefties.