PHILADELPHIA – Dylan Lee is listed at 6-foot-3, 214 pounds. When he saunters around the clubhouse, he looks rather lanky.
Don’t be fooled.
“You don’t realize how big, strong of a guy he is,” manager Brian Snitker said. “He’s one of these old country-strong guys, like he ought to be out bailing hay or something.”
Turns out, he’s doing just fine pitching. Lee has gone from serving as an extra arm in the bullpen to pitching in high-leverage innings versus the meat of opposing lineups. “Kind of went to the front of the line, pretty much,” Snitker said. His emergence has been a pleasant surprise for the Braves.
Lee entered Tuesday having allowed four earned runs over 26 innings. He has struck out 28 batters while walking only two. After the Braves recalled Lee in late May, he went 9-1/3 innings without surrendering an earned run.
The lefty is not simply there for mop-up duty or to eat innings. No, he’s an important pitcher for the Braves, who are deploying him in different situations. In July, five of Lee’s eight appearances have come in the seventh inning. Of those, three have come in games decided by three or fewer runs.
Last year, the Marlins released Lee at the end of spring training. He debuted with the Braves, eventually started a World Series game as an opener, then kept working to get to this point.
“He’s another story that kind of gets overlooked, just how well he’s throwing and all the hard work he’s put into it and how reliable he is,” Snitker said.
Entering Tuesday, Lee had thrown strikes on 70.2% of his pitches, the fourth-highest rate in the National League for pitchers with at least 10 appearances. His 14.0 rate of strikeouts per walks issued is the second-highest mark in baseball for those with at least 10 appearances.
“He’s been amazing,” pitcher Max Fried said. “He just comes in, fills up the zone and challenges every single guy that comes up to the plate. To kind of hear about and see his journey, and being able to kind of put it together up here, it’s really awesome. I’m happy for him.”
When the Braves brought up Lee earlier this season, you expected him to pitch in blowouts. He seemed like the guy they would use if they wanted to not burn other arms in a six-run game on a hot Sunday before a road trip.
But here he was Monday at Citizens Bank Park, protecting a one-run lead versus the top of the Phillies’ order in the seventh inning.
“He’s come a long way from just getting the call-up last year to pitching in these kind of (high-leverage) innings,” Snitker said. “That’s kind of really cool to see. He’s another one of those guys that’s really easy to pull for, with what he’s been through and being on a world-championship team. From toiling in the minor leagues to getting a crack here to now doing what he’s doing here, it’s pretty impressive for a young guy – (or) for an old guy, anybody.”
Muller breaks bone in non-pitching hand
Lefty Kyle Muller, a top Braves pitching prospect, recently broke a bone in his right hand on a comebacker during batting practice, people with knowledge of the situation confirmed to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The injury is to his non-pitching hand, so the organization is trying to create a splint that would allow him to continue pitching while the fracture heals.
After recent promotions, Muller is listed as the Braves’ top prospect on MLB Pipeline. He has pitched in the bigs before and recently has found his groove at Triple-A Gwinnett.
Muller has a 2.96 ERA over 16 starts for Gwinnett this season. Muller was named International League Pitcher of the Month for June.
Snitker on Anthopoulos: ‘He does his homework’
Trade-deadline season is upon us. It’s full of possibilities, especially for the Braves, who are led by a man known for his activity at this time of year.
President of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos won the deadline last year with a flurry of moves that propelled his club to a World Series title. He’s always searching for upgrades and isn’t afraid to take chances.
“I think he does his homework,” Snitker said. “He studies, and he learns all he can about the players. I think the team of guys he has working with him provides him with information. I think they’re really good at looking outside the box, too. They do their homework. They’re really good evaluators.”
Around this time, Snitker said, Anthopoulos will ask him about the club’s needs from his perspective. The two will talk about it.
“It’s asking, and then he pounds the pavement and makes the calls and sees what’s available and who and all that,” Snitker said. “It’s like, probably everybody in baseball now is looking for the same things, so it’s kind of rough sledding. He always seems somehow to identify guys and pull it off as good as anybody I’ve ever seen.
“I know he’s busy making calls and doing everything right now. We’ll see what the endgame is.”
The trade deadline is 6 p.m. Aug. 2.
Pitching prospect is promoted
Jared Shuster is headed to Gwinnett. The left-hander, who is the Braves’ No. 7 prospect, features what’s considered to be the top change-up in the system.
Shuster posted a 2.78 ERA over 17 games – 16 of them starts – for Double-A Mississippi. He had a 0.96 WHIP. He had 106 strikeouts and 22 walks.
Shuster is scheduled to start Thursday’s game for Gwinnett.
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