Atlanta Braves assistant coach Joe Breeden (93) talks with pitcher
Ian Thomasduring spring training workouts at Champion Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports
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The birthday boy (yesterday) gets his wish: according to this report, 28-year-old lefty Ian Thomas has been recalled from Gwinnett to re-join the Atlanta Braves in New York as the begin a series with the Mets this week. UPDATE: The Atlanta Braves have now confirmed the move via twitter.
Thomas is effectively the only lefty reliever available in the system to replace Andrew McKirahan, who was suspended over the weekend for PED use while in Spring Training with the Marlins.
This will be Thomas’ second tour of duty with the big club. He pitched well in 2014, posting a lot of zeros over 13 appearances – but 3 other games raised his ERA to 4.22 for the season.
He has been throwing very well so far this season in AAA, though only has 3.1 uneventful innings with a 0.30 WHIP. So circumstances aside, he arguably deserves the promotion.
Thomas was already on the 40-man roster thanks to last year’s work, so no roster moves were necessary. If something else stupid happens, though McKirahan’s slot can be replaced as he goes onto the Restricted List.
MEANWHILE…
#Braves signed lefty Greg Smith to minor league contract, replaces Thomas at Triple-A Gwinnett
— David O'Brien (@DOBrienATL) April 21, 2015
31 year-old Greg Smith is the very definition of a AAAA journeyman reliever…except for one glorious year. He hit the majors twice – once as a full-blown member of the Oakland rotation in 2008, pitching 190 innings for 32 starts and a 4.16 ERA. But after that year, he became part of a large trade: he, Huston Street, and Carlos Gonzalez were traded to the Colorado Rockies in exchange for Matt Holliday.
However, Smith got hurt early on and missed the first half of that next year. Once healed, he worked his way through virtually all of the Rockies system, and then started 8 games for them in 2010, but was released at the end of the 2011 Spring Training. How quickly things can change.
From there it was a bounce from team to team at the AA and AAA levels – both the Yankees and Red Sox in 2011, the Angels in 2012, and the Phillies in 2013-14.
This is actually the second time he’s signed with Atlanta in the past 7 months: the first time was on November 4th, though I find no record of his release. I will note that he has no record of pitching for either Gwinnett or Mississippi so far this season.
That’s apparently going to change shortly: he’ll at least provide the AAA club with a stopgap lefty option in their bullpen.