ATLANTA -- Just days after the Dodgers signed star closer Edwin Díaz last December, the Braves made a counter move of sorts.
Knowing Robert Suarez had just become the top commodity on the relief market after Díaz signed a three-year, $69 million deal, the Braves swooped in with a three-year, $45 million offer for Suarez.
Now, Atlanta didn't need a closer -- Raisel Iglesias had signed a one-year deal a month earlier -- but it had a vision of creating the best setup man/closer duo in baseball. And the Braves did exactly that ... until everything changed following a June 19 game against the Brewers.
The game itself could not have gone any better. The Braves did just enough against NL Cy Young favorite Jacob Misiorowski to hand over a lead to the bullpen. Suarez pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings to set up Iglesias for the save.
It was a blueprint for how Atlanta hoped that type of game would go in October.
Afterward, though, Suarez -- who had a 0.56 ERA through 31 appearances at the time -- felt some soreness in his right arm. He was shut down, with no timetable for when, or if, he might throw another pitch this season.
It wasn’t until Game 158 that Suarez made his triumphant return. He allowed a run in one inning against the Reds. He pitched again three days later, allowing another run in one inning against the Marlins.
"Look, coming into the postseason, we weren't really sure what we were going to get there," manager Walt Weiss said. "Obviously, an extremely talented and unbelievable track record, but you miss three months and you pitch two innings the last week of the season to prepare for a postseason? There's a lot of unknowns there."
Certainly, the Braves couldn't thrust Suarez right back into a high-leverage role -- but they saw enough to include him on the postseason roster.
"The upside is huge," Weiss said.
Suarez's first test came in the winner-take-all Game 3 of the Wild Card Series against the Phillies. He recorded two outs to escape a bit of a jam in the sixth, albeit with the Braves holding a five-run lead when he entered.
That was nothing compared to the task he faced on Sunday night in Game 2 of the NLDS.
With two on, nobody out and the Braves clinging to a one-run lead in the bottom of the fifth, Weiss summoned Suarez to face the Dodgers' 3-4-5 hitters.
The veteran righty got Will Smith to fly out on a 100.1 mph fastball. He got Freddie Freeman -- who had homered just one inning earlier -- to fly out on a changeup.
Suarez then blew a 101.4 mph fastball past Teoscar Hernández to end the inning.
"I’m just happy I was able to pitch a clean inning at that moment," Suarez said via interpreter Franco García. "I’m just really grateful I was able to help the team."
It wasn't just that Suarez escaped the jam, it was how he did it.
That 101.4 mph pitch to Hernández was not only Suarez's fastest of the season, but it was the fastest by any Atlanta pitcher in more than four years. The last Brave to throw a faster pitch was Spencer Strider on July 2, 2022 (102.4 mph).
"He looked like vintage Suarez tonight," Weiss said. "He was throwing the hell out of the ball.”
Game 3 starter Chris Sale took it a step further.
"I'll be honest, it looks like -- it's scary to say this -- but it looks a tick better than what it looked like those first few months," Sale said. "His changeup looks like a split finger, his cutter is better than most fastballs and his fastball looked a tick or two better than what I've seen."
It's almost impossible to fathom.
Sure, there's an adrenaline boost that comes with pitching in the postseason -- especially against the back-to-back World Series champions -- but this was still just Suarez's fifth outing in the past 107 days (including one Minor League rehab appearance).
"I think he made a statement with how he threw the ball," Weiss said. "You could make a case that was maybe the turning point of the game right there, when he came in and put that inning down with [runners on] first and second, nobody out."
Of course, those weren't the outs Suarez would have been asked to take down had he not missed three months. On this night, those outs (and a few more) were recorded by Didier Fuentes, who continued his breakout season with 3 2/3 incredible innings before Iglesias got the final out to shut the door.
It's not the vision the Braves imagined 10 months ago, but it's one they would have gladly signed up for just a few weeks ago.
"There's been different personnel as the year has gone on, but they've always done the job," Weiss said. "I feel like, especially once we got Suarez back, this is probably the strongest our bullpen has been all year."