Braves Fans Shouldn't Panic as New Bullpen Works to Get Acclimated in Atlanta

The Atlanta Braves and GM Alex Anthopoulos addressed the clubs biggest weakness at the trade deadline, acquiring three relievers to upgrade what has often been a mediocre bullpen this season.

Unfortunately, outside of veteran Mark Melancon, it hasn't gone very well for this trio. New closer Shane Greene has already given up four runs in two outings, and setup man Chris Martin gave up a walk-off 2-run homer to Miguel Sano Monday night in Minnesota.

These new guys aren't covering themselves in glory so far, but Braves manager Brian Snitker believes in the group. And he's right to do so.

In relation to their new bullpen, the Braves now have to hope bad things happen in no more than threes https://t.co/2cGCPcMnev
— Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) August 6, 2019

“I have a lot of confidence in every one of those guys down there,” Snitker said. “They’ve all been in stressful innings, the whole bullpen, pretty much. There’s a little bit of newness to it right now. It’s going to take a while to be hitting on all cylinders for everybody.”

Braves fans are already pummeling Greene and Martin after their brutal three-game stretch, but it's not time to panic just yet.

The pressure has ramped up for both players now that they're on the postseason track, and they haven't handled it well in the early going. Going from a losing team to first place is a major change; growing pains were to be expected.

#Braves' Chris Martin: "I’m going out there and doing the same thing I normally would. Yeah, it hits a little harder when it’s a new team, what’s going on in the last few days. But short-term memory, like I said. We’ve got tomorrow, we get on a roll, everybody forgets about this”
— David O'Brien (@DOBrienATL) August 6, 2019

If you look at the appearances made by Greene and Martin so far, you can see that it's a pitch here and there that's sinking them. Those kids of beats are fixable, and with the stuff they have, they can once again be the dominant arms the Braves figured when they acquired them.

It looks bad right now, but give it a couple weeks before booing these guys and calling them trash. If you're a baseball fan, you know how volatile relievers can be. The Braves have no reason to backtrack now.