Atlanta Braves
Jason Bishop Show w Kipp Branch June 8
Young Guns
By: TJ Hartnett
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Going into Spring Training, the Atlanta Braves felt like they had two strong anchors in their starting rotation in Mike Foltynewicz and Kevin Gausman.
Both guys had a few years in the bigs under their belts and both had successful campaigns in 2018. Gausman’s success coming after he was traded to Dixie from the Baltimore Orioles, in particular.
It was the rest of the rotation that was covered in question marks. The loss of Anibal Sanchez to Sean Newcomb’s second half crash to the ever-changing consistency of Julio Teheran, the starting corps was less of a strength and more of a potential strength.
The talent was there. The Braves had built up a mountain of wealth in the arms department but there was no track record because a few flashes of brilliance from most of the prospects.
So, there was reasonable concern when both Folty and Gausman couldn’t make it to the finish line of Spring Training healthy. These were the guys Atlanta needed to lean on while the prospects and younger arms of the rotation were put to the test.
Flash forward to the June 1st, the season is two-thirds of the way done, and the Braves have two strong anchors in their rotation: but the twist is that the anchors are two of those same prospects the Braves weren’t sure they could count on in March.
Mike Soroka and Max Fried have been the stalwart performers of Atlanta’s starting rotation in 2019, leading the team in earned run average and wins, respectively, and each of them rank second in the category they aren’t leading in.
In fact, the question marks surround Folty and Gausman, who both returned from the Injured List and have been inconsistent at best (Gausman, for the most part) or just bad at worst (Folty, for the most part). They haven’t been able to secure wins for their team, going 3-8 collectively, and neither can boast an ERA under 5.50.
If there’s good news among the bad, it’s that both are talented enough to break out of these funks. In fact, both have had recent games that looked like a turnaround point only to have poor outings the following turn.
Soroka and Fried, on the other hand, have been consistently great. Fried has kept Atlanta in pretty much every game he’s started, as his 7 wins show. Finally, getting a chance to stick in the rotation (he made a total of 9 starts out of 23 appearances over the past two seasons), Fried is showing why the Braves coveted him so much when they traded Justin Upton to San Diego for him in December of 2014.
Soroka has been a revelation; picking up from where he left off last season before he got hurt and proving that he’s got the moxie to be a top starter even at the age of 21.
Soroka has been so good since joining the rotation that when he went eight innings in San Francisco against the Giants last month and only gave up one run, his ERA actually went up.
The kicker is that the last piece of the rotation puzzle, Julio Teheran, has actually been pretty good this year as well. He may have finally settled into the middle-of-the-rotation guy he was probably always destined to be anyway.
What this all amounts to is this: if (when?) Folty and Gausman figure it out, the Braves rotation will be among the most formidable quintet in the game today. And that’s thanks in large part to the teams two studs: Mike Soroka and Max Fried.
Jason Bishop Show with Kipp Branch June 1
Jason Bishop Show w Kipp Branch May 25
Not Going Back
By: TJ Hartnett
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The Atlanta Braves are, unsurprisingly, leaning on youth to win ballgames during the first half of the season.
The young pitching that has been so highly touted for the past several years has shown up and produced, with Mike Soroka the undisputed ace of the team and Max Fried leading the squad in wins after nearly two months. That is to be expected, with the hype that surrounded those two and their fellow pitching prospects.
However, with all the focus and fanfare surround the young arms on the Braves and throughout their farm system, it’s easy to forget that there are some talented position players that have been waiting to get the call and make an impact in the big leagues.
After flat out decimating Triple A for more than a month, the Braves pulled the trigger and called up prospect Austin Riley to play left field, even though his natural position is third base.
That didn’t stop him from making an impact, homering in his debut and staying hot ever since, including a game tying bomb in the series finale against the Giants in San Francisco.
That home run was Riley’s FIFTH since his call up on May 15th. He’s also hitting for a high average and has played solid defense in left in addition to a few starts at third base to spell veteran Josh Donaldson.
It’s been less than two weeks, but even with a small sample size, there is no way the Braves are sending Riley back to the minor leagues when Ender Inciarte is ready to come off the Injured List.
More than simply hitting well, Riley’s call up has reinvigorated a Braves team that had been embarrassed by Los Angeles the week before and squashed by St. Louis the night before. Atlanta has been tearing it up since the 22-year-old joined the team. The energy is high, and there’s certainly a correlation with Riley’s arrival, if not a direct causation.
While Riley’s and team’s success is an absolute good, it doesn’t bode so well for the Gold Glove centerfielder, Ender Enciarte, whose trip to the IL prompted the call up.
Inciarte has never set the world on fire with his bat and in fact is notorious for having slow starts every season before heating up during the second half; but he’s unmatched on the squad in center field.
Ronald Acuna, Jr. has slid over to man center in Ender’s absence, and while he’s faster and younger, he still hasn’t developed the defensive instincts that make Ender such an asset.
An outfield with Acuna in left, Ender in center, and stalwart Nick Markakis in right is a superior defensive outfield, no one will argue that. However, the dividends that Riley’s bat pays out may make it impossible for Brian Snitker to give Ender starts once he gets healthy.
Aside from spelling Donaldson at the hot corner, Riley is almost certainly going to be the starting left fielder for the Braves going forward, which Ender coming in as a defensive replacement late in games as long as he remains untraded.
Speaking of, that’s another feather the Braves have been able to add to their cap with Riley’s instant success. Ender will make an appealing trade piece. He’s a young veteran with a cheap contract that ends on a team option. Riley has given Atlanta the flexibility to flip Ender as part of a package for that constantly needed bullpen help.
Whatever happens, Austin Riley is leading the charge for Atlanta, and he’s here to stay.
Jason Bishop Show with Kipp Branch May 18
Jason Bishop Show with Kipp Branch May 11
Jason Bishop Show with Kipp Branch May 4
Jason Bishop Show with Kipp Branch April 27
Fire Fighter
By: TJ Hartnett
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
There is such a thing as beating a dead horse – so head’s up: I am about to do it.
I am about to talk about relief pitching, and it will not be a positive column. You have been warned.
The Arizona Diamondbacks swept the Atlanta Braves, finishing up yet another series in which the Braves proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that they desperately need help in their bullpen.
Reliever AJ Minter took a loss in the series, spoiling a great start by rookie, Max Fried. Both Minter and Chad Sobotka gave up 3 earned runs a piece in the loss.
That dumpster fire was followed up by an extra innings loss after Jesse Biddle couldn’t hold the tie game in the 10th inning.
Then Mike Soroka took a loss even though the young hurler gave up one run on six strikeouts and a walk in five innings, but Sobotka gave up another three (two earned) to let the game get away from the Braves.
I’m not sure this can be considered a silver lining, but in the first game of the doubleheader against the Indians, it was Julio Teheran who gave up the most runs in the Braves’ fourth straight loss (Wes Parsons did give up three as well; that bullpen will not be outdone!).
So back to that dead horse. Even though we haven’t brought him up in the SSE for a while: let’s talk about Craig Kimbrel.
Kimbrel is still sitting at home with a week and a half left until May. From what I’ve read, there’s an increasing chance that Kimbrel’s asking price has dropped from the reported six-year, $100 million-or-so to possibly even a much more palatable three-year contract.
Interesting note, Kimbrel’s agent is the same guy who represents Ozzie Albies, which is bonkers when you think about it: one guy is sitting at home because he’s asking for too much, the other guy took roughly 1/10th of his value for the next decade.
But let’s throw money out of the equation for now and pretend that the Braves and Kimbrel could reach a deal that would satisfy both the flame-throwing righty as well as Liberty Media.
Would Kimbrel really be the savior of the season if the Braves actually inked him to a return deal? Well, no. Despite being one of the greatest closers of all time even this early into his career, he’s still just one guy.
He can replace Arodys Vizcaino at the back end of the bullpen (Vizcaino, possibly the most reliable piece on the relief staff, is out for the season), but he can’t set up for himself, or do damage control for three innings in the middle of a game. He’s a great pitcher, but he’s not five great pitchers.
The starting rotation, which has been very good, isn’t going to provide eight innings every night, either.
Unfortunately, that’s the only situation in which signing Craig Kimbrel solves all of the Braves’ problems. That being said, it also would be a good start. The best bullpens are built from the 9th inning on down, and a reunion with Kimbrel would certainly be a step in the right direction.
