DLS is slowly turning into Slider-and-changeup-man, and may be starting to ascend the bullpen hierarchy
The Atlanta Braves bullpen underwent a lot of turnover from last season to 2025. So it was going to have to take some time everything to shake out and for roles to be nailed down. Coming into the season, Enyel De Los Santos looked like every other random not-quite-replacement-level reliever, so I assumed that he wouldn’t really have a role outside of mop-up duty. Then the season started and you got these situations when he entered the game.
From looking at that, what are we doing here? We are oscillating back and forth between leverage of almost none to medium to high and in between at random. This sort of reminds me of a My Name is Earl episode where Jason Lee got a mix tape from a girl. The songs were “Feel Like Making Love”, “You’re My Best Friend”, “Do Me”, “Don’t Do Me Like That”, “I Want Your Sex”, and “Don’t Stand So Close To Me”. As Randy wondered “George Michael with Tom Petty? Are you two partying or just hanging out?”
So I don’t know that Enyel necessarily has a role yet, or if the Braves have anything settled beyond Raisel Igelsias at the top of the hierarchy followed by Daysbel Hernandez and then maybe Dylan Lee and Pierce Johnson in the next tier. One thing that has become clear with Enyel is more reliance on his slider and changeup and moving away from the four-seam fastball. And it’s paying off with his 3.78/3.68/3.08 line that is starting to look like his good 2022 and 2023 seasons in Cleveland.
His slider usage has overtaken his four-seam fastball usage for the first time this year. This has been coming for some time. The fastball has an above-average velocity at 96.1 MPH but he’s not missing bats. The fastball SLG allowed broke .600 last year. It’s .615 this year and a very poor .471 xwOBA. So the slider is becoming his first offering now and with adding changeups to lefties, the four-seam is becoming background.
Above are his pitch types from his last five performances, all scoreless with 6 strikeouts and 3 walks. Keep in mind that this includes a fastball-heavy mix on the 29th at Coors Field (which is not super kind to breaking pitches anyway) and 10 fastballs to a pair of sub-50 wRC+ hitters. So the slider has become more common slowly over the last two years and lately it’s been his go-to. And the good thing is that the slider is not bad.
OK, so it’s not a “great slider” from a movement standpoint. But he gets good movement away from righties with the slider and the changeup gets great movement away from the lefties. The slider has cutter velocity with more movement basically. And he is spotting the slider and changeup well.
The slider is on the outside lower corner to righties and the changeup is on the outside lower corner to lefties. The slider attacks the outside lower corner as well but breaks slightly toward the middle of the plate.
Ok, we’re 500+ words into this and haven’t seen him throw the slider yet. Here’s Teoscar Hernandez looking silly on a 90 MPH slider.
Here’s Masyn Wynn vainly trying to swat the slider.
Lots of movement there away from righties. Now for the changeup. Let’s see Enyel make Max Muncy go fishing.
The bullpen as a whole got off to a wretched start of the year as they dealt with massive turnover from the year before. The Braves have already used 16 in a reliever role this season. Since April 27th, things have settled down with the bullpen being 3rd in ERA, 4th in FIP, 2nd in xFIP, and 5th in WAR. Some have stepped forward, and Enyel De Los Santos is becoming a big part of that group. I don’t know where his role will land. Maybe Slider-and-changeup-guy becomes the 7th inning guy and ousts Dr. Curveball aka Pierce Johnson. Wherever it is, I like the approach and hopes he continues to be a reliable pitcher this season.