The Atlanta Braves signed relief pitcher Shane Greene to a one-year, $1.5 million contract on Sunday.
The move brings some help to a struggling Braves bullpen who entered Sunday's game with a 4.56 ERA that's good enough for 22nd in the majors.
Greene was 1-0 with 21 strikeouts and a 2.60 ERA in 27 2/3 innings with the Braves last season. The right-hander entered 2021 as a free agent and spent the first 38 days of the season without a team.
What does the signing mean for the Braves bullpen?
"I am kind of questioning what kind of shape Chris Martin's arm is in if they're going out and going to go get a right-handed arm at this point," 92.9 The Game's Braves reporter Joe Patrick said.
Martin is currently down in Triple-A Gwinnett working his way back from the injury list. He's been dealing with inflammation in his throwing shoulder.
"Obviously Chris Martin was a guy they were going to rely on in these seventh, eighth inning through these stressful situations...The injury that he had has always kind of spooked me a little bit. When you hear about 'tingling' and potential 'nerve issues,' that's never a good sign for me. So I think that this is a great, kind of, fallback for the Braves to have and I think that they're just in a fortunate situation to be able to capitalize on it."
Along with Martin, Sean Newcomb is also working his way back to the big club. Joe believes this bullpen is starting to take shape, and the addition of Greene could be a big boost.
"Sean Newcomb is going to have a role in this bullpen," Patrick continued. "I think that this bullpen, right now, is still shaping up. I think Brian Snitker is still trying to piece it together."
"I think (Luke Jackson) has been improving as the season has gone along as well, and he's turned into a guy who--I think Brian Snitker's feeling like he can rely on him right now, at least in the short term. But I think that's why you bring in a guy like Shane Greene to kind of give you some more solidity there."