How Atlanta's bullpen usage will help in the postseason

This story was excerpted from Mark Bowman’s Braves Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

ATLANTA -- Can the Braves win a seventh straight National League East title?

We’ll have a much better idea by the time the Braves and Phillies conclude a three-game series at Truist Park on Sunday afternoon. You may have heard Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber will still be on the injured list when these two rivals meet for the first time since the season-opening series in Philadelphia.

Or maybe, it’s more appropriate to say that by the end of the series, we’ll have a better idea about what it might take for Atlanta to overtake Philadelphia. It won’t be a make-or-break series. The Braves lost four of five to the Mets from Aug. 4-7, 2022, and found themselves seven games back on Aug. 10.

We know what happened over the final six weeks of that incredible 101-win season. We also know what has happened during the past two postseasons, when the Braves have been doomed by the fact their rotation wasn’t at full strength.

So can the Braves erase their eight-game deficit in the NL East? Sure. Should they make every effort to make this happen? Absolutely not.

In other words, the Braves should continue to pace both their starters and relievers. Much of the focus has understandably been on how Reynaldo López and Chris Sale are getting at least one extra day of rest as frequently as possible. But the team’s bullpen management could also prove to be quite valuable down the stretch and into the postseason.

Jesse Chavez leads the Braves relievers with 34 innings pitched. Dylan Lee follows with 33. Chavez has the 73rd-highest total among all MLB relievers entering Monday.

Raisel Iglesias and Joe Jiménez have made a team-high 32 appearances for Atlanta this year. Eighty-seven MLB pitchers have made more relief appearances than both of these Atlanta relievers.

It’s not like the Braves entered this season planning on finishing second to the Phillies. But the past two years did seem to influence their willingness to pace themselves through the 2024 season. And they have been able to navigate this route courtesy of the great depth they have found in the relief pitching department.

Grant Holmes spent 10 years in the Minors before debuting a few weeks ago, on June 16. He has since allowed just two runs over 10 innings. The three scoreless innings he provided in relief of Spencer Schwellenbach (Braves' No. 3 prospect) in Sunday’s 4-2 loss to the Pirates allowed the Braves to give most of their relievers an extra day of rest to pair with Monday’s off-day.

Jiménez has been one of the game’s best relievers (2.53 ERA), and Chavez is getting All-Star love as he finds himself with a 1.32 ERA halfway through his age-40 season. This bullpen has so much depth that Daysbel Hernández was optioned to Triple-A Gwinnett on Sunday to create a roster spot for A.J. Minter, who was activated on Monday from the injured list, before Tuesday’s game against the Giants.

Hernández has allowed one unearned run in nine appearances (9 2/3 innings) this year. He was sent down because he is one of the few relievers who has an option remaining.

López and Sale have responded incredibly well to the extra rest they have regularly received. Both have remained strong while reintroducing themselves to the grind of covering an entire season as a big league starter. Neither one has done it since 2019.

But they have spent this season’s first half earning strong All-Star consideration.

If the Braves were to start using their starters on regular rest, in an attempt to catch the Phillies, there’s a good chance López and Sale wouldn’t be nearly as effective by the time the postseason arrives.

But if the Braves don’t catch the Phillies and draw the assignment of playing in the Wild Card round, they will enter the postseason confidently, especially if López, Sale, Max Fried and Charlie Morton are healthy and well-rested.