NEW YORK — While all the attention was on Ronald Acuña Jr.’s return to the Atlanta Braves on Monday at Citi Field, there was one notable absence in the clubhouse.

Reliever Robert Suarez, sidelined with forearm tightness for more than a month, was not present among his teammates. Given that Braves manager Walt Weiss said last week that Suarez had started playing catch at Truist Park, Suarez’s absence was significant.

“I was hoping he’d be back by now,” Weiss said. “It’s taken longer than we all thought.”

Suarez, who last pitched June 19, was a big part of the Braves’ early-season success. He was arguably the best reliever in baseball at the time of his injury, sporting a 0.56 ERA, and he hadn’t given up a run since May 22.

With Suarez’s timeline to return still unclear, the Braves’ need to acquire another reliever before Monday’s trade deadline has only become clearer. Even if Suarez returns before the postseason, his extended absence has already exposed the bullpen’s cracks.

“If there’s a reliever, we would jump at that,” president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos said on MLB Network Radio on July 19. “We see it all the time in the playoffs with all the off days; not that many guys are going deep in terms of starts. Having a deep bullpen is pretty important.”

Here are some relievers who could fit Atlanta’s needs:

Adrian Morejon, LHP, San Diego Padres

Last week, The Athletic reported that the Padres had scouts at High-A Rome watching Braves prospects. Morejon, the left-handed power reliever in his final arbitration year making $3.9 million, is a prototypical Braves deadline acquisition. Armed with an upper-90s fastball, strong run-suppression metrics and elite raw talent, Morejon offers high-leverage versatility and the ability to work multiple innings. He also has a 27 percent strikeout rate, which would make for an interesting fit alongside fellow lefties Dylan Lee and Dylan Dodd.

John Schreiber has been a consistent reliever for several seasons. (Ezra Shaw / Getty Images)

John Schreiber, RHP, Kansas City Royals

Schreiber attacks hitters from a low arm slot, leaning primarily on a sweeper and sinker that help him generate weak contact. He has been a reliable reliever since 2022, with a 3.39 ERA, 264 strikeouts in 268 innings and a 1.231 WHIP over 288 games during that span. His unusual delivery has been especially effective against right-handed hitters, who have batted .178 against him this year. His ability to keep the ball on the ground also makes him an appealing option.

Kirby Yates, RHP, Los Angeles Angels

Yates is no stranger to Atlanta after spending 2022 and 2023 with the Braves. The 39-year-old has posted a 3.76 ERA and 1.139 WHIP with 35 strikeouts over 26 1/3 innings for the Angels this season. His splitter remains his best weapon, generating plenty of swings-and-misses. He could be another late-inning option for Atlanta.

Emerson Hancock, RHP, Seattle Mariners

Hancock isn’t a relief pitcher. But he is under control through 2030, so he would provide starting pitching depth for a few years to come. On the other hand, if Hancock, a native of Cairo who was drafted out of the University of Georgia in the first round in 2020, is added, that would mean Martín Pérez, Grant Holmes or Reynaldo López could find their way back to the bullpen. It seems like Holmes or López would be the likeliest candidates, considering Pérez is left-handed. Both López and Holmes can come into high-leverage situations and go multiple innings. That could be especially important during the playoffs.

AJ Smith-Shawver makes long-awaited return

It had been over a year since AJ Smith-Shawver last pitched in a major league game. On Wednesday, the 23-year-old finally made his return.

He delivered 4 1/3 innings, allowing two earned runs on four hits and striking out four while throwing 69 pitches (43 for strikes) in his first MLB start since having Tommy John surgery in June 2025.

“It’s a lot of ups and downs along that road on the way back, so it’s a grind,” Weiss said. “I thought he handled himself really well.”

Smith-Shawver’s fastball consistently touched the upper 90s, and his slider showed the sharp break that made him one of baseball’s top young pitchers before his injury. While there were moments when his command wasn’t as crisp, he showed his stuff remains viable against major-league hitters. If he can consistently recapture his pre-surgery form, Smith-Shawver would be a valuable asset for a team looking for pitching reinforcement.

For now, the right-hander is headed back to Triple A after Wednesday’s afternoon game. He was only up as the extra player for the doubleheader, which the Braves split with the New York Mets. His future role will become clearer after the deadline.

The setting is The Langham, a luxurious five-star New York hotel that overlooks Fifth Avenue.

Down below, the famous thoroughfare in Midtown Manhattan is packed full of commuters and tourists. The hotel is an oasis amid the city’s bustle and feels like an appropriate place for Liverpool’s chief executive Billy Hogan to pause for breath and take stock of an intriguing few days for the club.

Fenway Sports Group, Liverpool’s majority owner, is in discussions with potential investors led by British-Indian businessman Amit Bhatia over selling a stake in the Premier League club. Bhatia, the son-in-law of Indian billionaire and steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal, was director and co-owner at Championship outfit Queens Park Rangers for 18 years before stepping down from their board last week.

So what’s the latest? “John Henry (Liverpool’s principal owner) has been very up front about the fact that if there ever was an opportunity for investment that would help the club, then they would seriously consider it,” Hogan tells The Athletic.

“In this case, and what was communicated last week, a consortium led, managed and represented by Amit Bhatia has come forward to make a minority investment in the club. That’s kind of it. There’s not much else to say about it at this point.”

The consortium led by Bhatia values Liverpool at more than $6billion (£4.5bn). Senior FSG figures have compared it to the deal struck with Dynasty Equity in 2023, when the American investment firm bought three per cent of the club for around $200m.

Amit Bhatia (centre) is fronting a consortium trying to buy a minority stake in Liverpool (Warren Little/Getty Images)

However, Bhatia is looking for a considerably bigger stake than that. According to Bloomberg, he is negotiating for as much as 30 per cent, and eventually hopes to obtain a controlling stake in Liverpool.

What kind of stake is FSG prepared to sell? And does it remain committed to running the club going forward? “We wouldn’t comment any further than that in terms of where things are at,” Hogan says.

His focus remains on helping Liverpool get back on track after last season’s struggles for the then defending champions of England resulted in the sacking of head coach Arne Slot and the appointment of Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola as his successor.

Responsible for the business side of the club, Hogan is tasked with maximising revenues that are then reinvested into the squad. The latest set of accounts for 2024-25 showed that Liverpool’s annual turnover surpassed £700million for the first time. That meant they were the highest-placed Premier League club in the Deloitte Football Money League, and fifth overall behind Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Real Madrid.

Their ongoing pre-season tour of America is another money-spinner with games in Nashville and Chicago, as well as New York, but the trip’s schedule has been designed around maximising training time. Liverpool are based in Chicago for the two weeks they will spend in the United States, with only brief stays in the other two cities.

“Andoni inherited the plan, which was a very conscious decision based on the importance of training,” Hogan explains.

“It’s about mitigating the disruption. Packing the tent up and moving everything every three days is really disruptive. If you can be based somewhere and the team just flies in and out to play matches, you only have to bring what’s needed for that particular match. It’s better for everyone.

“We’re always trying to balance the commercial realities of a tour with access to world-class training facilities.”

Coming so soon after the World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico, there’s the opportunity to capitalise on greater interest in the sport.

Liverpool and Sunderland attracted a crowd of 24,897 at Nashville’s 30,100-capacity Geodis Park last weekend, with more than 40,000 turning out at New York’s iconic Yankee Stadium for Wednesday’s game with worldwide-phenomenon Championship side Wrexham.

Liverpool fans at the Wrexham game (Dustin Satloff/Getty Images)

“Part of it is coming to the market, bringing the players here, giving our fans the opportunity to see the team,” Hogan says.

“We have a responsibility as a global club to bring the club out to global markets, whether that’s North America, Asia or wherever. In the U.S., what we’ve seen consistently over time is the growth of football. There’s a tremendous number of people playing at grassroots level and we’re coming off the back of a World Cup which, by most accounts, was really successful.

“In my position, being a (U.S./UK) dual citizen, hearing the stories from people who came back from the U.S. about the experiences they had (at the World Cup), it was only positive. From the U.S. fan perspective, seeing what it means to be part of the fabric of football is something that will win over casual fans.

“Part of our thinking of coming into the market after the World Cup is capitalising a bit on that wave. There was a tremendous amount of focus on the World Cup, so the cut-through for marketing and advertising was more challenging during the tournament, but we were still happy with the crowd in Nashville.”

Iraola was deemed the outstanding candidate to replace Slot based on his body of work over three seasons at Bournemouth. The Basque coach has a track record of developing talent, playing an exciting brand of attacking football and exceeding expectations. It’s the start of a new Liverpool era.

“The first impressions have been great,” Hogan says. “Andoni has got a great energy about him. As Andoni said himself, this is about putting down the foundations for the season.

“Even in our first game in Nashville last weekend (Liverpool beat Sunderland 4-2), you could see a bit of a difference in pressing style and how he’s getting his ideas across. It’s a transition and these things take time, but we’re looking forward to the season.”

After the high of winning the Premier League title in Slot’s first year in charge, standards slipped alarmingly last term. Liverpool limped home in fifth place, and Champions League qualification wasn’t enough to save the Dutchman’s job. They also had to deal with tragedy and plenty of misfortune.

“It was an unbelievably difficult season for the club,” Hogan says. “It started with Diogo Jota’s passing. The team was meant to be coming back to pre-season training that same week.

“That clearly had a big impact on preparations, and it continued to have an impact over the season. Losing a team-mate is something that is unthinkable. Going through that only added to the difficulties.

New head coach Andoni Iraola takes on a big task with Liverpool this season (Mike Stobe/Getty Images)

“We also had a lot of injuries to key players. Alexander Isak went through a tough summer and wasn’t really ready to go when he arrived (from Newcastle United several weeks into the season), which we knew would be the case. Then he scores at Tottenham and you think, ‘OK, here we go’. But at the same time he gets his ankle broken in the challenge as he scored.

“It was a very difficult decision regarding Arne. He’s a terrific human being and a terrific coach. Sometimes these decisions have to be made. But he will always be the manager who brought us our 20th league title.”

As well as the playing side, there are two other key elements to the current tour.

One involves the LFC Foundation’s coaches.

In Brooklyn on Tuesday, they joined forces with the British Consulate General New York to host a special football clinic for children and families affected by cancer. There are similar events across all three cities Liverpool are visiting.

“These are the hardest working people on tour, and the smiles they put on faces are incredible,” Hogan says. “They were at a fire-department event in New York this morning, and then we’ve got the Make A Wish Foundation one here later today. It’s not just about interacting because of the match, but also to have some impact on the ground for the communities we’re visiting.”

The other element is the commercial value the U.S. offers.

It is Liverpool’s top retail market outside the UK, and 11 of their 28 commercial partners are based in North America. According to the club’s data, they have around 26 million supporters in the States. A sign of their reach was seeing the Empire State Building lit up in Liverpool red to mark the club’s arrival in the city.

Billy Hogan, FSG’s CEO, at the top of the Empire State Building (Liverpool FC)

“There’s a tremendous opportunity for U.S.-based global companies, who have an interest in multiple markets around the world, to partner with Liverpool because of the reach we can bring,” Hogan adds.

“We have more than 225 million engaged fans across our social media platforms — 10 times what the New York Yankees have. Whether it’s Coca-Cola, UPS or Google, they are very interested in partnering with the club.

“Then there’s the retail side. We’re entering the second year of our partnership with Adidas. If you go up the road to their flagship store here, you’ll see that our new away kit has front-and-centre placement. We reach every corner of the globe, and the U.S. is crucial.”