Folks, we have another trade! According to Jeff Passan from ESPN, the Atlanta Braves have once again linked up with their frequent trade partners from the AL West, the Los Angeles Angels. This time, they’ve added to their bullpen by bringing in lefty reliever Brent Suter.
As far as fWAR goes, Suter is having his best season since 2023, which is when he somehow managed to put up 1.3 fWAR across 69.1 innings as a relief pitcher for the Colorado Rockies as a 33-year-old. Now, he’s 36 and has produced 0.5 fWAR over 63.1 innings and is currently sitting on a 4.12 ERA (98 ERA-) and a 3.65 FIP (87 FIP-).
He’s actually got some eye-popping peripheral stats, such as the fact that his average exit velocity sits at 86.3 mph, which places him in the 92nd percentile among all relievers. His Hard-Hit percentage is 30.4 percentage, which puts him in the 94th percentile. His extension is in the 99th percentile, which means that his stuff in general (an 89-mph sinker, a 76-mph chanegup, an 88-mph four-seamer and an 80-mph slider) looks a lot better than it seems. Combine that with a decent walk rate, barrel percentage and ground ball rate and you have a very solid reliever who should fit in nicely with Atlanta’s bullpen.
One thing that Suter should benefit from (like all outgoing Angels pitchers) is the fact that he’ll be leaving one of the worst defenses in all of baseball. The Angels as a club have an OAA of -22 and now Suter will be pitching in front of an above-average Braves defense who have accrued 10 OAA so far this season. That should provide a boost for Suter and help make him even more effective going forward.
Considering the return is for Nacho Alvarez Jr., I’d say that this is a pretty fine deal. So far, the Braves have fortified their outfield with Lane Thomas, given their rotation a bit of a boost with Tyler Mahle (though a bigger boost is clearly needed) and now they’ve given their bullpen some help with Suter coming into the fold.
I’d imagine that with a big starting pitcher still needed, Alex Anthopoulos hasn’t exactly put the phone(s) down just yet. We’ll see what happens as the afternoon progresses, folks.
React: Braves get Brent Suter
The Braves add left-handed reliever Brent Suter from the Angels for infielder Nacho Alvarez, Jr.
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