Braves Predicted to Miss Adding Pitcher at MLB Trade Deadline

The Atlanta Braves have needed bullpen reinforcements all season. Additionally, three Atlanta starters are currently on the injured list, so the Braves could use another arm in the starting rotation as well.

With that in mind, Sports Illustrated's Nick Selbe and Will Laws named the Braves a fit for several pitchers, both starters and relievers, who could be available at the MLB trade deadline. But Selbe and Laws didn't predict the Braves to land any of them.

Selbe and Laws named 25 potential trade candidates in a detailed MLB trade deadline prediction story Friday. Of those 25 players, 14 of them were pitchers.

Then of those 14 pitchers, the Braves were named one of the best team fits for seven of them -- four starters and three relievers. But the two SI editors named several team fits for each pitcher.

So in their final predictions, the Braves landed none of the seven pitchers identified as best fits for them.

Of those seven pitchers, Selbe and Laws predicted three of them not to be traded at all. The SI editors predicted the other four pitchers, though, to be traded to other teams.

The four starting pitchers identified as a "best fit" for the Braves in the article were Kansas City Royals' Seth Lugo, Texas Rangers' Tyler Mahle and a pair of Arizona Diamondbacks starters -- Merrill Kelly and Zac Gallen.

Lugo was projected to land with the Toronto Blue Jays while the SI editors sent Kelly to the St. Louis Cardinals. Gallen and Mahle were predicted not to be traded at the deadline.

The Braves might have to be a little more aggressive than what Selbe and Laws predicted them to be to stay in the playoff race. With Chris Sale hitting the injured list last Saturday, the Braves are currently missing three starters and have called up 20-year-old rookie Didier Fuentes to the rotation.

It's clear Fuentes has great promise, but he needs more seasoning, maybe even at Double-A. It's difficult envisioning the Braves climbing back to .500 if Fuentes has to pitch every five days for the foreseeable future.

The three relief pitchers the Braves were linked to in the article were Minnesota Twins' Jhoan Duran, Pittsburgh Pirates' Dennis Santana and Colorado Rockies' Jake Bird. Santana landed with the Tampa Bay Rays while Bird went to the Chicago Cubs in the prediction piece. Duran stayed with the Twins.

The Braves are ranked 12th in bullpen ERA this season but are second-to-last with 12 saves. Part of that is the lack of save opportunities, but relievers Raisel Iglesias and Pierce Johnson have also blown quite a few saves this season, particularly over the last month.

Atlanta might need to add a starter and at least one reliever to have a realistic shot of getting back and staying in the race for the rest of the summer.