Atlanta Braves right-hander Robert Suarez is back.
The Atlanta Braves are back in the postseason, and now the focus turns to getting healthy for it. At 92-65, Atlanta has clinched the National League East and essentially is locked in the No. 3 seed. With the division settled, manager Walt Weiss has shifted his attention to the bullpen. The biggest lift there could come from Robert Suarez.
Weiss laid out a clear plan for the veteran right-hander, as first reported by MLB.com's Mark Bowman. The team has activated Suarez off the injured list ahead of Wednesday’s game against the Cincinnati Reds.
From there, the goal is to give him two outings across the final five regular-season games. Those appearances would let him face live big-league hitting before the NL Wild Card series.
Before the injury, Suarez was one of the most dominant relievers in baseball and Atlanta’s top set-up arm. Across 31 appearances and 32 innings, Suarez posted a 0.56 ERA and a 0.844 WHIP. He went 4-0 with four saves, struck out 26 and allowed just two earned runs all season. That kind of run prevention is nearly impossible to replace.
The road back has been long. Suarez last pitched on June 19 before dealing with forearm tightness. The team placed him on the 15-day injured list days later, and further imaging pointed to right elbow inflammation. On September 1, Atlanta moved him to the 60-day injured list to open roster space for its September call-ups.
Suarez kept building arm strength through bullpen sessions and live batting practice. This past weekend, he cleared the final hurdle, tossing a scoreless inning on a rehab assignment with Triple-A Gwinnett. It was his first game action in more than three months.
The Braves will bring him along carefully. Suarez has not pitched on back-to-back days or in a high-leverage spot since June. As a result, his two tune-up outings will likely be spaced out, with the home series against the Reds and a road trip to the Miami Marlins serving as his runway.
A healthy Suarez reshapes Atlanta’s late-inning picture. His power arm gives Weiss a proven bridge to closer Raisel Iglesias, rather than leaning on secondary options in tight games. It also deepens a group that spent three months without arguably its best reliever.
If he looks sharp in his two outings, Suarez becomes a lock for the postseason roster. For a club chasing a deep run after a bounce-back season, a reinforced bullpen may be exactly what Atlanta needs in October.
