ST. LOUIS -- When the Braves learned backup outfielder Matt Joyce would be away from the team this weekend, they had little choice but to fill his roster spot with Kyle Wright, who will attempt to provide some stability while four of the club’s most valuable relievers gain necessary rest.

Before Friday’s series opener against the Cardinals, the Braves recalled Wright from Triple-A Gwinnett. Joyce, who was placed on the bereavement list, is expected to rejoin Atlanta’s roster after spending this weekend attending his uncle’s funeral.

Closer Luke Jackson, Touki Toussaint and Sean Newcomb each completed more than one inning in Thursday’s 13-inning win over the Giants. Consequently, the Braves entered Friday’s game wanting to stay away from each of those three relievers and possibly Jacob Webb, whose 20-pitch outing Thursday was his third appearance in five days.

But Atlanta used Newcomb to close out Friday’s 5-2 win. The 25-year-old left-hander gave up a leadoff homer to Matt Carpenter in the ninth, then retired the next three batters.

Wright returned to the Majors to serve as short-term insurance. The club's No. 2 prospect per MLB Pipeline had been scheduled to start for Gwinnett on Friday night. He has completed five innings in three of his five starts at Triple-A.

While the Braves plan to continue utilizing Wright as a starter at the Minor League level, they have already benefited from converting Newcomb and Toussaint to relievers. Here’s a look at what those two pitchers and Jackson have done recently.

Jackson: Arguably the last pitcher to earn a spot on the Opening Day roster, Jackson has become a reliable closer. The blown save he endured Saturday came courtesy of a hit batter and two high choppers that sailed into the outfield. As he squandered a two-run ninth-inning lead Tuesday in San Francisco, he gave up four hits, each of which had an exit velocity below 91 mph per Statcast.

As Jackson has produced a 1.80 ERA over his past 22 appearances (25 innings), he has allowed a .234 batting average and .298 slugging percentage. Statcast’s metrics that account for exit velocity and launch angle show he has been saddled with some bad luck. During this span, his expected batting average allowed is .183 and his expected slugging percentage is .234 (second lowest allowed by an MLB reliever dating back to March 31).

Jackson has compensated for the lack of reliable depth while making five two-inning appearances, including the one that concluded Thursday’s extra-inning win. He also notched two-inning saves on May 12 and 15.

Newcomb: The lefty has also provided some stability as he has completed more than one inning in three of his nine appearances since returning from Gwinnett and beginning to work out of the bullpen. He still has not issued a walk while allowing only two runs over 10 2/3 relief innings.

Toussaint: As Toussaint has allowed only two hits and one run over 6 2/3 innings since most recently being promoted from Gwinnett, he has given the Braves reason to give him a chance to become a mainstay in the bullpen. He has completed more than an inning in three of his past four appearances.

“I think it’s a huge asset in your bullpen to not just have the one-inning guy,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “I think it benefits the makeup of our bullpen when those guys can go [multiple innings].”