Atlanta Braves' Arodys Vizcaino out for Season: Which Reliever Will Step Up?

Atlanta Braves reliever Arodys Vizcaino has been declared out for the entire 2012 baseball season after having Dr. James Andrews perform Tommy John Surgery earlier this week.

With Vizcaino now on the shelf, the Braves now must have someone step up in what would have been his reliever position.

Currently, the players guaranteed in the bullpen are Craig Kimbrel, Jonny Venters, Eric O'Flaherty and Kris Medlin. After that, there's no guarantees that certain relievers will be on the Opening Day roster.

With at least three and maybe four more spots available, manager Fredi Gonzalez has a lot to consider when filling out the rest of his bullpen.

Cristhian Martinez seems to have the inside track for the first spot. Martinez was the long reliever last year and impressed many throughout the year. He ended the season with a 3.36 ERA in the 46 games he played in, and 90 strikeouts. That alone should guarantee his spot in the pen.

From there, it can get a little hazy. You have guys like Cory Gearrin, Adam Russell, Jose Asencio, Anthony Vavaro and Robert Fish competing for the final two spots.

Gearrin had a rough go of it during his time with Atlanta last year, while Vavaro was impressive at times. Russell is a non-roster invitee, so if he doesn't make it, he'll likely be released, while Asencio has steadily made his climb through the ranks.

Acquired from the Los Angeles Angels in the Rule 5 Draft, if Fish doesn't stay on the 25-man roster, the Angels can acquire him back for half the price the Braves paid for him.

However, the thing I don't see the Braves doing is having another lefty in the bullpen. Sure, Venters and O'Flaherty are the setup guys, but that's still two lefties for a league that primarily has right-handed hitters. So, unless the Braves see something in him that I don't, I don't think he makes the roster.

With all that said, the Vizcaino injury gives one more guy an opportunity in the big leagues to start out the year.

My guess is that the Braves will go with Vavaro and Asencio due to their success at multiple levels.

However, should either of these guys falter, or one of the other relievers goes down with an injury, don't be surprised if the Braves call on J.J. Hoover to come to the big leagues, as having another power arm out of the bullpen never hurts.