Atlanta Braves Continue to Search for Another Lefty

Not long ago you might have wondered if the Atlanta Braves had too many lefties in the bullpen, but now they're searching for a second one. 

When the Atlanta Braves traded for Brad Hand at the deadline it made sense to get some insurance with Dylan Lee on the injured list. 

Assuming Lee came back healthy and effective, the question then was -- will the Braves carry three lefties in its bullpen for the postseason? 

But Lee struggled coming back from the injured list and is now out for the season. 

Hand, who has dominated against left-handed hitters the majority of his career, has struggled for the most part in Atlanta with a 6.43 ERA and 1.357 WHIP in 14 innings. 

He provided hope with a couple of really good outings against the Phillies last week, but then in a postseason-like scenario this past Friday against the Marlins as he was brought in to get a tough lefty with two outs, he failed miserably. 

What's frustrating is that he's not even getting out lefties consistently enough, as they're batting .304 against him since coming to the Braves in 25 batters faced. 

If you want to think optimistically, lefties haven't done a lot of damage against him since coming over and they have a .438 BABIP, 32% K-rate, and he's walked just one of those 25 batters. 

Metrics would tell you that perhaps he's been a little unlucky against lefties since joining the Braves. 

In Colorado this season, Hand held lefties to just a .143 average in 59 batters faced with a 33.9% K-rate, just 8 walks, and a .233 BABIP. 

The problem with Hand is that if he doesn't get that lefty out -- and as mentioned, he hasn't with the Braves -- righties absolutely crush him (.337 AVG and .614 SLG this season). 

There really is only one option left, and that's recently called up Lucas Luetge. 

The 36-year-old came over from New York to provide lefty depth in the bullpen and started the year in Atlanta, but he struggled mightily giving up 11 runs on 17 hits and seven walks in 11.2 innings. 

At the minor league level, it's been better with a 3.65 ERA and 1.34 WHIP in 24.2 innings with just 8 walks and 28 strikeouts. 

But he hasn't exactly neutralized lefties as they're hitting .256 against him at Gwinnett this year. 

Another idea -- although not likely -- would be to move Jared Shuster or Dylan Dodd to the bullpen. But it's not like either one of them have dominated lefties this year. 

At this point, Hand is probably still the best bet to get a second lefty on the postseason roster and you just hope that his career track record outweighs the limited sample size in Atlanta. 

And in the end, it might not matter all that much as the formula at the end of games should be Pierce Johnson, Joe Jimenez, A.J. Minter, and Raisel Iglesias. 

It would be nice to have a dependable lefty for the middle part of a tie game in the postseason, and that's what the Braves will be looking for.