MINNEAPOLIS — Jesse Chavez can still remember Dylan Lee’s earliest days with the Braves. Something that stood out: Lee would sit and listen to everyone around him.
“He was really good at just sitting there and taking all the knowledge and all the conversations that are going on and putting them to use for his own benefit,” Chavez said. “And that’s pretty nice to see because he really wasn’t on the map, and then all of the sudden he comes here, and now he’s a key piece moving forward.”
In 2021, the Braves promoted Lee to the major leagues months after signing him.
In 2024, the left-handed reliever is, as Chavez said, an important part of what the Braves hope will be a World Series team.
“Really good,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said of Lee’s emergence. “Dylan’s come a long way. He’s a guy that has just kind of gradually earned (the opportunity) where you want to put him in leverage situations. He’s got a good way of keeping the game slowed down.”
Entering Wednesday, Lee had a 1.94 ERA over 51 innings. His ERA ranked 11th among relievers who had thrown at least 50 innings. To put into context how impressive this is: Of the pitchers ahead of Lee on that list, a handful were closers – including teammate Raisel Iglesias.
The Braves recently lost left-handed reliever A.J. Minter for the season after he underwent left hip surgery. This has left Snitker with two left-handed options in his bullpen: Lee and Aaron Bummer. It has made Lee that much more important – a responsibility for which Lee is fit.
Lee always seems composed. Nothing rattles him.
“Yeah, that’s just his personality, his upbringing and what it’s about: Never get too big, never get too low, just always stay in the moment,” Chavez said. “And that’s how he’s been since he’s gotten here, which is a very good trait to have for a guy that wasn’t on the radar and then all of the sudden, boom, we’re watching something nice.”
In 2024, Lee – who is coming off of the left shoulder surgery he underwent in the offseason – is getting tons of opponents to chase. His 36.8% chase rate, entering Wednesday, ranked in the 99th percentile in baseball.
His stuff is producing tons of swing and miss. His 36.5% whiff rate is in the 97th percentile.
And when batters do hit his pitches, they aren’t smoking them. His 31.5% hard-hit rate – a career-best mark – is in the 93rd percentile.
Lee likely will see some high-leverage spots down the stretch, depending on who’s available on a given night. He’s a big piece of the Braves’ drive toward October.
At the end of March 2021, the Marlins released Lee.
He’s since become a major factor for the Braves.
“It’s a testament to him, too – never getting too down,” Chavez said. “Some guys can get a little bothered by the organization giving up on them – the one they’re drafted by or signed with, and stuff like that. Just being able to come here and do what he’s done on a yearly basis, and not let what happened last year with his shoulder come into this year. You haven’t seen anything slow him down, which is nice.”
Gio Urshela ‘banged up a tad’
On Wednesday, Snitker started Luke Williams at third base in place of Gio Urhsela. He put Williams into the ninth spot in the order.
“Gio is kind of banged up a tad,” Snitker said before the game.
Snitker said Urshela would be available off the bench if the Braves need him. Urshela had started eight consecutive games – including playing 10 innings twice – since the Braves signed him to fill in at third after Austin Riley fractured his right hand.
When first asked about starting Williams, Snitker didn’t mention anything specific on Urshela. He just said he was banged up.
So, just a general soreness?
“Yeah,” Snitker said. “It was just kind of more to get him some treatment and get him a day. … Hopefully it may make him better going forward to the weekend and into the off-day (on Monday).”
The Braves didn’t need Urshela. Williams went 2-for-4 with two doubles, including one that plated two runs and gave the Braves a four-run lead in the seventh inning.
Merrifield leads off again
For the third consecutive day, Whit Merrifield led off for the Braves. He hit first Monday, when Michael Harris II didn’t start after getting hit in the hand Sunday. Then Snitker put Merrifield in the leadoff spot again Tuesday and Wednesday, with Harris in the lineup.
“We’re just gonna take it a day at a time and keep it fluid, and we’ll see who’s hitting on all cylinders,” Snitker said before Tuesday’s win over the Twins. “I don’t know that we’re locked into any one guy. Just seeing the matchups, kind of, and where guys are at and how they’re swinging. We’re just kind of in ‘whatever it takes mode’ right now.”
If Merrifield stays in the leadoff spot, he’ll return to Philadelphia – which designated him for assignment – as the Braves’ leadoff man for a crucial series.
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