Gone is Billy Wagner, the 16-year MLB veteran, and in is Craig Kimbrel, a 22-year-old protege of the veteran southpaw.
Yes, the Braves will miss former closer Billy Wagner in the ninth inning this season. There's no way around it.
Wagner's 1.43 ERA in his 71 appearances last season provided Braves fans with a sense of calmness when "Enter Sandman" echoed throughout the stands in the ninth inning—a feeling not felt throughout Turner Field since John Smoltz was their closer. They'd struggled through the days of Chris Reitsma, Dan Kolb and other disappointments before falling in love with the flame-throwing Wagner.
However, midway through the season, Wagner announced 2010 would be his last and an injury in postseason play provided some much-needed experience for expected 2011 closer, the rookie Kimbrel.
Kimbrel, combined with the rest of the Braves' young bullpen, now has a little postseason experience under his belt, and is itching to return to October baseball.
The Braves look to return to the postseason for the second season in a row, surely challenging the defending NL East champion Phillies. The Braves bullpen will need to buckle down and pick up the slack left by Wagner's departure and continue to be lights out in the final three-plus innings.
Left-handed reliever Jonny Venters, 25, ended 2010 with a 1.95 ERA and 93 strikeouts in his 83 innings pitched. Midseason, Venters was lights out and even earned the nickname "Everyday Jonny" by Braves announcers Joe Simpson and Chip Caray because of Braves manager Bobby Cox's tendency to use Venters on a day-in, day-out basis.
Venters did show signs of late-season fatigue, but, after a full offseason of training for what should be the set-up role in the bullpen, Venters is surely stronger and better prepared for 2011.
During the offseason, the Braves signed left-handed reliever George Sherrill to a one-year contract worth $1.2 million, with the ability to make up to $200,000 more due to incentives.
Sherrill had a disappointing 2010, posting a 6.69 ERA in his 65 games with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Despite the high numbers, Sherrill held left-handed hitters to a .192 batting average. In his new role with the Braves, Sherrill will likely be used primarily for facing left-handed batters. If he can continue to be effective against the likes of Ryan Howard, look for the Braves pen to be successful.
The Braves also have returning left-handed reliever Eric O'Flaherty in their bullpen. O'Flaherty missed much of the second half of 2010 after getting mononucleosis. Prior to the illness, O'Flaherty posted a career-low 2.45 ERA in 56 games with the Braves and was a effective tool for Cox to use late in the game.
Reliever Peter Moylan appeared in 85 games for the Braves in 2010 and ended the season with a 2.97 ERA. Moylan, who is notorious for rarely giving up a home run while on the mound, gave up only five long balls in 63.2 innings pitched.
The side-armed pitcher, who was given his own entrance video themed to AC/DC's "TNT" at Turner Field last season, has always been very reliable when placed into a close game, going 6-2 in both 2009 and 2010.
Look for Moylan to be successful again in 2011 and even enter into the role of veteran for the young Braves bullpen. Besides Moylan's reliability, his mindset is also a key to his successes. He's known around the clubhouse as having a great sense of humor and recently opened a Twitter account to give fans an inside view of his life. "Guys I'm so ready its scary," Moylan posted on the account.
But back to Kimbrel.
In his 21 appearances last season, Kimbrel had a 0.44 ERA. The number seems to stand out upon first glance, but it's not Kimbrel's most daunting statistic from 2010.
In his 20.2 innings pitched, Kimbrel had 40 strikeouts and allowed only one earned run and nine hits by opposing batters. He made an appearance in all of the Braves' postseason games, allowing one hit in 4.1 innings pitched.
The Huntsville, Ala. native throws the ball hard and was able able to study under Wagner for the latter part of 2010. Look for Kimbrel to have a huge breakout season and the Braves to return to the postseason for a second consecutive year.
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