There’s a Reason Atlanta Didn’t Use Raisel Iglesias on Monday Night

There are fans mad at the Atlanta Braves for leaving their closer on the bench for the 9th inning

Atlanta Braves closer Raisel Iglesias, seen here talking to leftfielder Jarred Kelenic, was not used in the 9th inning of last night's walkoff loss to the Seattle Mariners. / Mady Mertens-USA TODAY Sports

The Atlanta Braves lost a tough one to the Seattle Mariners last night. 

Up by a single run in the 9th after a pitching duel between Braves starter Max Fried and Mariners righty Bryce Miller, Atlanta went to A.J. Minter to get the final three outs and start the road trip with a victory. Instead, a Jorge Polanco leadoff single and a Mitch Garver homer gave Seattle the walkoff win in game one. 

And the usage of Minter has had people asking why Raisel Iglesias, the team’s primary closer, wasn’t the choice to get the final three outs and seal the ballgame. 

While manager Brian Snitker didn’t directly address it after the game, it’s commonly understood that Iglesias was not available due to his usage, having pitched in the final two games of the previous series against the Cleveland Guardians. 

And there’s a reason why Atlanta didn’t want to use Iglesias for a third straight day: He isn’t very good in those situations. 

Braves Today went back over 2023’s game logs and identified four times where Iglesias pitched on three consecutive days. And spoiler alert: they’re not pretty. It’s an entirely defensible decision by the coaching staff to go with A.J. Minter, who was in the midst of a nine-outing scoreless streak, over Iglesias on Monday night.  Let’s go over it. 

July 4th, 2023 vs Cleveland Guardians

The Braves were on the road for the holiday, taking on the Guardians in Cleveland’s Progressive Field. Iglesias, who had thrown a combined 22 pitches in the previous two games (both clean ninth innings with one strikeout each), is called on for the 10th inning with a 5-5 tie. 

Here’s how the 10th goes for Iglesias: 

With Amed Rosario at second base, an intentional walk of José Ramirez
Ground ball double play by Gabriel Arias
With Amed Rosario at third base, an intentional walk of Andrés Giménez (who takes second base on defensive indifference)
David Fry game-winning single to left field    

4 pitches and Iglesias takes the loss after two walks (both intentional) and one hit. 

August 9th, 2023 vs Pittsburgh Pirates

The Braves were again on the road, taking on the Pirates in Pittsburgh’s PNC Park. Iglesias, who had thrown a combined 36 pitches in the previous two games (one hit, one walk, two strikeouts and a save), is called on for the 9th inning with a 6-5 lead. 

Here’s how the 9th goes for Iglesias: 

Ke’Bryan Hayes strikes out swinging
Bryan Reynolds flies out to deep right field (353 feet)
Andrew McCutcheon singles to center field
Alfonso Rivas singles to right field, McCutcheon advances to third
Henry Davis strikes out looking

25 pitches, but Iglesias secures his 22nd save of the season after two hits in the inning, stranding McCutcheon on third

August 31st, 2023 vs Los Angeles Dodgers

The Braves are once again on the road, taking on the Dodgers in Los Angeles’ Dodger Stadium. Iglesias, who had thrown a combined 31 pitches in the previous two games (one walk, two strikeouts and a save against the Colorado Rockies) is called on for the 9th inning with an 8-7 lead. 

Here’s how the 9th goes for Iglesias: 

Mookie Betts flies out to deep right field (338 feet)
Freddie Freeman walks on five pitches
Will Smith first-pitch single to left (103.7 off the bat), Freeman advances to 2nd
Max Muncy flies out to deep right-center (323 feet)
Kike Hernández strikes out looking

15 pitches, but Iglesias secures his 27th save of the season after a hit and a walk in the inning, stranding Freeman on second

September 12th, 2023, vs Philadelphia Phillies

The Braves are once again on the road, taking on the Phillies in Philadelphia’s Citizens Bank Park. Iglesias, who had thrown a combined 22 pitches in the previous two games (two hits, two runs - including a homer - and a blown save) is called on for the 9th inning with a 6-5 lead. 

Here’s how the 9th goes for Iglesias: 

Trea Turner leadoff home run (404 feet and a “no-doubter” - out in all 30 ballparks) 
Alec Bohm single to right field
Bryce Harper single to right field, Bohm advances to second base
J.T. Realmuto strikes out swinging
Nick Castellanos hits into a ground ball double play

24 pitches, Iglesias takes the blown save (his fourth) but would also pick up the win (his 5th) when Eddie Rosario scores Forrest Wall from 2nd base in extras and then Brad Hand pitches a clean bottom of the 10th inning.  

Final tally

In the four outings that Iglesias pitched for a third consecutive day in 2023, he finished his four full innings with a loss, a blown save, seven hits allowed (including a homer) and three walks (although two were intentional in extra innings) against only four strikeouts. 

It’s not a guarantee that Iglesias, coming off of 27 pitches combined in the previous two days, would have been any more effective last night than Minter - as a reminder, Minter was in the midst of a nine-outing scoreless streak. 

It was the right decision, it just didn’t work out this time...but there’s an important reminder here: You need to separate the process used to make the decision from the results of that decision.

In a vacuum, it was the correct decision to rest Iglesias no matter what Minter did in the 9th.  Just because it didn’t work out doesn’t mean that this was the wrong call - using the information that MLB teams have, they’ve concluded as an industry that relievers throwing in three consecutive games is a bad idea. 

While yes, if Minter hadn’t have hung a cutter then we probably wouldn’t be talking about this, but the decision by Brian Snitker was correct.