The Atlanta Braves have suffered a season of disappointment so far.<\/p>\n
The 2021 World Series champs who have made it to the postseason seven years in a row are in serious danger of seeing that streak end.<\/p>\n
Past the halfway point of the season, the 2025 edition of the Braves are languishing in third place in the National League East, 10 1\/2 games off the pace set by the Philadelphia Phillies.<\/p>\n
Obviously, the problems in Atlanta are complicated. But one area that absolutely needs an upgrade is the back of the bullpen.<\/p>\n
Manager Brian Snitker has been relying on 35-year-old Raisel Iglesias, who has been erratic at best.<\/p>\n
Though the Cuban-born righty saved 34 games for Atlanta last year, and 33 the year before that, with just four blown save opportunities in each year, the 2025 season looks a little different.<\/p>\n
Iglesias has recorded just nine saves so far, and has blown four already. The Braves will be done with him after this season when his\u00a0four-year, $58 million contract expires.<\/p>\n
A trade proposed by Kerry Miller of\u00a0Bleacher Report<\/em>\u00a0on Sunday would solve Atlanta\u2019s high-leverage relief problem not only for the remainder of this season, but potentially for the next three seasons as well.<\/p>\n And the trade outlined by the\u00a0B\/R\u00a0writer would represent a significant upgrade \u2014 if only because it would bring in the single hardest thrower in baseball, as determined by Statcast figures \u2014 one who has recorded 15 saves for a team that, at 34-52\u00a0prior to Monday\u2019s action, has won four fewer games than Atlanta.<\/p>\n That\u00a0pitcher is Mason Miller, the 26-year-old closer for the team formerly known as the Oakland Athletics. Converted to the bullpen just last season after breaking in as a starter in 2023, Miller instantly became one of of the game\u2019s most dominant and intimidating closers.<\/p>\n According\u00a0to Statcast figures, Miller leads\u00a0all Major League pitchers with an average velocity on his four-seam fastball of 100.8 miles per hour.<\/p>\n The fastest pitch he has yet thrown as a big leaguer, as recorded by Statcast, was a blinding 103.6 mph, coming\u00a0during Miller\u2019s appearance in last year\u2019s All Star game.<\/p>\n Iglesias, by contrast, ranks 160th in average velocity on his four-seamer, at 94.5 mph.<\/p>\n The\u00a0B\/R<\/em>\u00a0writer admits that the trade idea seems \u201coutrageous,\u201d but justifies the potential deal because \u201ceven with Miller pumping gas when save situations arise, the Athletics\u2019 pitching staff is doing its darndest to keep pace with the Rockies for most runs allowed this season.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cGiving up a known commodity in Miller with 4.5 years of team control remaining might seem counterintuitive,\u201d wrote B\/R\u2019s Miller. \u201cBut turning a guy who might give you 70 great innings in a season into two starters and a plausible closer is worth exploring.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Who are those three pitchers? According to the\u00a0B\/R<\/em>\u00a0trade proposal, they are all among the top 20 prospects in the Braves\u2019 farm system.<\/p>\n Drue Hackenburg<\/strong>, the Braves No. 4 overall prospect and the organization\u2019s third-round draft pick in 2023.<\/p>\n The 23-year-old currently at the Double-A level \u201chas provided an intriguing combination of missing bats and getting groundball outs in the Minors.<\/p>\n He throws both a four- and two-seam fastball, with the former up to 97 and averaging 94.7 mph last year and the latter averaging over 93 mph,\u201d according to MLB Pipeline.<\/p>\n Lucas Braun<\/strong>, another Double-A righty ranked at No. 9 in the Braves\u2019s system. \u201cAll of Braun\u2019s stuff plays up because he can throw any pitch for strikes, with a 67-percent strike rate in 2024, and it was encouraging to see him be more effective as he moved up a level with the promotion to Double-A,\u201d per the\u00a0Pipeline\u00a0scouting report.<\/p>\n And finally\u2026<\/p>\n Rolddy Mu\u00f1oz<\/strong>, the No. 20 Braves prospect now pitching with the Triple-A Gwinnett Stripers. Already 25 years old, Mu\u00f1oz was a low-profile signing out of the Dominican Republic in 2018. He\u2019s been held back by his trouble throwing strikes, but now appears to be on track to take over a high-leverage role in the Majors with a four-seamer that averages between 97 and 98 mph, and has occasionally reached triple digits,\u00a0according to\u00a0MLB Pipeline.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Atlanta Braves have suffered a season of disappointment so far. The 2021 World Series champs who have made it to the postseason seven years in a… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":65277,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-65276","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"\nAthletics Would be Investing in Future Arms<\/h2>\n