ATLANTA — The Atlanta Braves announced on Saturday that left hander Dylan Lee will start Game 4 of the World Series tonight.
It's a remarkable situation that Lee - a 26-year-old rookie reliever who only had two appearances during the regular season - finds himself in.
The idea is that the Braves will be utilizing the "bullpen game" strategy on Saturday night - their rotation has been cut down by injuries this year, the latest happening to Charlie Morton in Game 1 that will take him out of the rest of the World Series.
That means they're going for a group effort tonight, with Lee the first man up.
It's not clear who else manager Brian Snitker has in mind to pitch tonight, or how long he might plan to use Lee - though it's probably a couple of innings at most.
"He's been very impressive in the times that we've used him, what we've seen," Snitker said before Game 4. "Ability to throw strikes, his change up is real, and we could have went many different ways really - but he's shown us we can trust him and put some confidence in him."
Lee, a California native who went to Fresno State, was drafted in the 10th round of the 2016 MLB Draft by the Miami Marlins. He spent four years in the Marlins organization before the Minor League season was canceled by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
Before this season, he signed with the Braves as a minor league free agent and spent the season with the Gwinnett Stripers at Triple-A.
He was excellent for the Stripers, registering a minuscule 1.54 ERA in 46 2/3 innings across 35 appearances. He struck out 54 and walked only six batters in that timeframe.
He allowed a pair of runs and struck out three in his two innings of Major League work, which came at the end of the regular season in early October.
He was left off the postseason roster, but added when Huascar Ynoa was injured in the NLCS. He threw two innings, allowing a run, in Game 5 of that series.
Lee then tossed 2/3 of an inning in the Braves' Game 2 loss of the World Series in Houston.
Now, he's improbably getting the ball to take the mound and lead things off for Game 4. For a pitcher who had all of two Major League innings to his name before the playoffs began, it's an incredible opportunity.
