When analyzing why the Atlanta Braves have been baseball’s best team, it’s easy to point to the lineup for their success. But Braves manager Walt Weiss directs the attention elsewhere.“I would say our bullpen may be our greatest strength,” Weiss said.The numbers tend to agree with him.To go along with their MLB-best 2.93 ERA, Atlanta’s relievers have allowed the third-fewest hits (187) and issued the least amount of walks (77) in the majors. Opponents are hitting .213, the second-lowest mark, and have an OBP of .280, the best in MLB.While every member of the bullpen has held his own, the backend relievers have moved the needle. Closer Raisel Iglesias (1.21 ERA), set-up man Robert Suarez (0.61 ERA), reliable Dylan Lee (1.16 ERA) and 20-year-old Didier Fuentes (1.13 ERA) make up half of the list of the top eight relievers (with 20 or more innings pitched) with the lowest ERAs in MLB right now.“This bullpen has been one of the best I’ve been part of,” Iglesias said in Spanish. “We have a group of players that are motivated to get better every day. That’s what has put us in a position to succeed, but we also have really good chemistry.”And the evidence is linked in the way they interact, too. The group shares a tight bond — Suarez, Fuentes and Iglesias are Spanish-speakers, with Lee, who grew up in a small Central Valley farm community where the population is 87 percent Hispanic, acclimating easily.
The Braves’ bullpen is providing the backbone for MLB’s best team
Atlanta's relievers have an MLB-best 2.93 ERA and have allowed the third-fewest hits (187) and issued the fewest walks (77).











