Dylan Dodd has already delivered important outs on this trip. Karinchak now enters the mix after being selected to the Major League roster Wednesday. JR Ritchie was also recalled, giving the Braves another arm who can help cover innings as the club navigates a stretch that has required some bullpen creativity.
Weiss has talked often about the importance of defining roles in a bullpen. But those roles only exist when pitchers earn them.
The Braves’ relievers have.
“It was good to see Karinchak,” Weiss said. “Got a look at him down one, pretty high leverage right there late in the game … and put up a zero. So that was good to see. But our bullpen has been good all year.”
Karinchak’s return added one of the better moments of an otherwise frustrating night. He was once one of the more electric relievers in the sport before injuries and inconsistency pushed him out of the Majors. The Braves signed him to a Minor League deal, waited and finally gave him another shot.
“It’s great, man,” Weiss said. “I love those stories, the guys that persevere and have to fight through adversity.”
The Braves would rather not need so many of those stories right now. Acuña is out with a Grade 1 left hamstring strain. Tyler Kinley was placed on the injured list with right elbow inflammation. The offense has scored six runs through the first two games of this series, and four of those came in the first three innings Tuesday.
But this is where a deep bullpen matters. It gives a team room to breathe when the lineup stalls, when the roster shifts and when the game gets messy.
The Braves still have one more game in Chicago. Then comes a division matchup in Queens.
If they are going to steady themselves quickly, the offense will need to wake up. But if the past few nights have shown anything, it’s that Atlanta’s bullpen is capable of keeping the door open long enough for that to happen.
