Braves' Bullpen Turnaround Has Been the Biggest Surprise of Atlanta's Recent Run

From the first day of the offseason, the biggest need that fans and pundits thought the Atlanta Braves needed to address was their bullpen. After the first couple months, it was certainly a glaring weakness.

That led to people clamoring and predicting they would be the team that would sign closer Craig Kimbrel once the draft pick compensation was removed. I mean, he came up with the Braves. It seemed like a perfect match, but he ended up signing with the Chicago Cubs. This stunk.

Atlanta did improve their rotation with the addition of Dallas Keuchel, but they still didn't have someone for the later innings you knew and could rely on. Well, I guess GM Alex Anthopoulos knew what he was doing.

The Braves have been lights out in the month of June, possessing a 19-7 record. The biggest reason may be their offense, which is blowing teams out on a nightly basis, but the bullpen has been nails.

In the month of June, the Braves 'pen has the best ERA in baseball (2.20) to go along with a 9.50 K/9 and 2.99 BB/9.

It doesn't mean that Anthopoulos doesn't need to address the bullpen before the trade deadline, but this group in Atlanta has stepped up and it's coming from some unlikely pieces.

Luke Jackson is still their closer, and even though he's had some rocky moments in the ninth, he's still been a bright spot in this 'pen. Jacob Webb has been getting it done in any situation manager Brian Snitker puts him in, as he owns a 1.29 ERA over his last 30 appearances.

The biggest bright spot has to be setup man Anthony Swarzak, who the Braves acquired from the Seattle Mariners back in late May. In 17 appearances in Atlanta's 'pen, Swarzak owns a minuscule 0.52 ERA with 21 strikeouts over 17.1 innings.

I realize Atlanta's offense has taken the game by storm, but you don't win that many games without pitching, and with the game in the balance late in the game, the Braves relievers are doing the job at a high level.