Raisel Iglesias took the mound last night with more baggage than a holiday flight out of Hartsfield. His ERA was bloated, his FIP was worse, and Atlanta Braves fans across the Southeast were asking the same question: What happened to our closer?
This is a guy who had been reliable for years—slicing through ninth innings like a hot knife through infield dirt. But in 2025? Through 12 innings, he’d already coughed up more homers than he allowed all of last season. Not great, Bob.
Early Season Blues: A Veteran in Trouble?
At 35, Iglesias is no spring chicken. His fastball velocity isn’t gone, but it’s not as electric. The strikeout rate has dipped, and worse, he’s giving up hard contact like he’s handing out party favors.
Fans still haven’t forgotten that blown save in Los Angeles earlier this year—the one that ended with Shohei Ohtani walking it off in soul-crushing style. Coming into last night’s game against the very same Dodgers, the pressure was high, and so was the trust from the fanbase.
Let’s be real: a 6.97 FIP is the kind of stat that gets closers reassigned. Iglesias wasn’t just in a slump—he was teetering on full-on implosion mode.
Redemption on the Rubber
Then came the ninth inning. One run lead. The Dodgers. The same team that had torched him before. And, of course, the inning starts with a bloop infield single. Because, of course, it does. Then, a stolen base. No outs. The crowd’s already twitchy.
But then? Iglesias found something. First, he jammed Will Smith with a perfectly placed sinker—strikeout, even if it cost him a baserunner on a dropped third strike.
Then he danced Miguel Rojas to death with three surgical changeups. Two outs. But Austin Barnes stood in with the tying run 90 feet away and Ohtani lurking in the on-deck circle like a nightmare in cleats.
Iglesias fired three fastballs to get ahead, then dropped a devastating slider off the plate that Barnes chased like a man trying to catch a bus. Strike three. Game over. And possibly, panic over—for now.
A Braves Win Bigger Than the Box Score
This wasn’t just a save. It was a statement. The Braves had dropped three straight, and while the offense and rotation have begun to stabilize, the bullpen has been the last domino to fall in line.
Iglesias holding it down in a high-leverage spot against one of the best teams in baseball might be the shot in the arm Atlanta’s been waiting for.
No one’s declaring the bullpen “fixed” yet. But Iglesias shutting the door—when everything in the storyline pointed to disaster—might be the flicker of a season pivot.
For the Braves and for their closer, last night wasn’t just a win. It felt like the start of something that could finally stick.
