Atlanta Braves: Manny Banuelos Monday Start Review

I took a look at Manny Banuelos‘ start on Monday against the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders of the Yankees organization.  This is the second Monday in a row that I’ve been able to look into the start of one of the Braves new acquisitions for Gwinnett after last Monday’s review of Michael Foltynewicz‘s start.  This is my view of Banuelos’ start, inning-by-inning. Writer disclaimer: I am not a trained scout, so my judgement on pitch type, motion, or movement is based on my experience watching the game, not any specific training. This shouldn’t be viewed as an educated scouting report, but feel free to comment on your own views as you watch the game on milb.tv archives.

First inning

Two fastballs outside (one ball, one strike) on Heathcott before getting Heathcott to lift a shallow fly to center. Very solid fastball movement on Figeroa for a two-pitch ground out. Refsnyder came in third, the first righty in the lineup against the lefty Banuelos. Good meatball pitch by Banuelos that Refsnyder just got underneath and the Gwinnett catcher made an excellent play to catch right against the screen. Very quick inning, and solid movement in and out of the zone along with changing speeds.

Second inning

No help from the offense on a very quick inning. Went outside, outside, outside, and then HBP on the first batter of the second. The HBP looked like Banuelos simply lost his release point on the pitch, and it ran way too far inside. Banuelos missed his spot by over half a foot the first three pitches after the HBP, but Tyler Austin gifted him with a foul on a bad pitch. He came back with two excellent pitches to get Austin to strike out. Notable that Banuelos basically threw one pitch that did NOT go to the inside part of the plate. He missed barely twice, but still missed and issued his first walk to follow his first strikeout. Austin Romine took a hanging curve over the middle to the gap in right-center to drive in two runs. The first hit allowed plated 2 against Manny. Galvez followed with a well-placed fly ball that fell between the left and center fielder, allowing another run to score. Banuelos attacked the next hitter, a lefty, and got him to roll over a change-up to first for out 2. That brought back the top of the order. Banuelos went to 3-0 on Heathcott, battled back to a full count, and then walked him, his second walk of the inning. He wasn’t missing by much in relation to the plate, but in relation to his target, he was consistently off, especially with his breaking stuff. Cunningham made a tremendous catch to end the inning, saving likely 1-2 more runs in the inning.

Third inning

Very solid play on a pop fly near the left field by Ciriaco for the first out against Refsnyder. Banuelos left a breaking pitch above belt level for Roller, who hit a solid single to right. Once again, Banuelos was aided by excellent defense by Kazmar at third to snag a hot shot and get the lead runner. Elmer Reyes nearly pulled of the double play with a great turn at second. Instead, Banuelos flashed a very solid pick off move and got Austin picked off of first for the third out.

Fourth inning

Segedin rolled over a very solid change-up to shortstop for out one. Banuelos hung a breaking pitch to Austin Romine, but he hit it on a line right at the left fielder. Banuelos moved up and down the plate on Galvez, getting him to swing at some high heat for his second strikeout.

Fifth inning

Banuelos really tried to nibble once he got Nick Noonan to a 0-2 count, and he ended up losing him to a walk. Any pitcher knows leadoff walks will always kill. Banuelos showed excellent bounce off the plate on a Heathcott bunt to get him by a step. Banuelos got behind 3-0 to Figueroa. Many of the balls were very close, but Banuelos seemed to be nibbling. Figueroa lined a hot grounder right up the middle, bringing in the leadoff walk to score, but heads-up defense by Cunningham caught Figueroa in between first and second, and he was out on a run down. A quick ground out to short ended the inning.

Sixth inning

Banuelos came hard after cleanup hitter Roller and struck him out on a very nice series of pitches. He finally changed up his approach to righties with Austin and went over the middle of the plate, and Austin obliged with a grounder to 2nd. He went even better after Segedin. He moved in, out, up, and got him out on a pitch down that Segedin popped to right.

Manny Banuelos Review: Overall

I’m not sure if it was Manny’s choice, the catcher’s choice, or Gwinnett coaching choice, but Manny spends most of his time against right-handers pitching inside. While that works when you’re hitting your spots, Banuelos was just a bit off early, which cost him 3 early runs when he missed by just a little into good hitting zones. For some reason, the team continued going back inside the entire 2nd inning. Banuelos is definitely more comfortable facing left-handed hitters. Banuelos was pulled after six, though I would argue the sixth was by far his most comfortable inning on the mound. As has been his bugaboo this year with Gwinnett, Banuelos was hurt by the big inning, and specifically in this game, by extra base runners. He threw 91 pitches, 49 of them for strikes. I will give Banuelos that his pitches often were not bad pitches and could have been strikes, but he was missing his target, and often, even if you hit the zone, if you’re missing your catcher’s target, it looks bad. This is my first full look at Banuelos post-injury, and his motion is just perfectly crisp. His delivery catches my eye a bit as he reminds me as a lessened cross-body delivery, akin to what former Yankee farm hand Ted Lilly once showed. Lilly had a solid career as a mid-rotation guy, and I think the comparable there is fairly solid, but Banuelos has a much less dramatic cross-body delivery, which in theory would save the elbow issues that Lilly was plagued with throughout his career, topping 200 innings only twice in a 15-year career. I really enjoy watching Banuelos pitch, and if he avoid shooting himself in the foot, he could be one of the biggest steals of the offseason, no matter how nice it would be to have David Carpenter and Chasen Shreve in the Atlanta bullpen right now.