Is It All That Bad For The Atlanta Braves?

Apr 15, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Braves starting pitcher

pitches against the Miami Marlins during the first inning at Turner Field. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

First Things, First: Pitching Not What We Were Hoping For

The pitching this season has been abysmal, excluding Shelby Miller. He’s been our best pitcher this year. However, Julio Teheran has not been himself. Minus his start against the Reds in Atlanta on May 3rd, he has struggled mightily.

Teheran’s troubles stem from him shying away from his fastball, for some unknown reason. I feel confident if he increases his fastball percentage, his issues will work themselves out. I thought earlier it may have been his knee, but I don’t think that’s the case, honestly.

Mike Foltynewicz has impressed in his first few starts with the Braves. Granted, he is still a rookie and going through some growing pains, mostly mechanical. Folty has a good sense of the zone and mixes his pitches well. His looping, lollipop breaking ball is devastating to hitters. Right now, he is doing what is expected of him. He is keeping Atlanta in ballgames.

Teheran, Miller, and Folty make a good top three in the rotation. Oh what would have been had Wandy Rodriguez been kept on the MLB roster, and not opted out at the end of spring training?

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Eric Stults, on the other hand, is another story. The Stults experiment is failing, and failing hard. Stults has stumbled to a 1-4 record, posting a 5.36 ERA. You don’t need saber-metrics to know that’s not good. He has totaled 40.1 innings giving up 44 hits (second to Alex Wood with 49).

He has allowed 24 runs, all of them earned. He has also issued 8 walks, which isn’t bad, but he has given up 9 home runs. Opposing hitters are hitting .284 against him. Not a whole lot to write home about. If the Braves had thoughts of moving him to the pen once Minor came back, they may want to reconsider. At the rate he’s going, opportunity’s door may be closing.

Alex Wood has had a significant drop off this year. Sitting at 1-2, Wood has struggled as well, but not nearly as bad as Stults has. His ERA rests at 4.28 in 40 innings, even. Wood’s allowed 49 hits, tops on the staff, and scored upon 19 times. All of those earned as well.

He has only given up 1 home run thus far, which is good. Hitters facing Wood though, are hitting at a .314 clip. Wood’s issues seem correctable. We’ve seen what Alex can do, so hopefully he comes out of this funk sooner rather than later.

Options here are plenty. Matt Wisler is in Gwinnett right now and after a rough start to the season, is picking it up. With the revolving door that is the Braves pitching staff, I think Wisler deserves a shot. Manny Banuelos has also started to pick it up. Of course, I see Banuelos as someone better suited for the pen though. Williams Perez‘s recent call up could lead to a more prominent role as well.

The bullpen is just as worrisome. Jason Grilli is anchoring a pen that at times looks lost and is is flighty. Jim Johnson has turned a 180 compared to where he was in April. But the middle men are still having problems. We have seen a lot of arms out of the pen so far this year, and I don’t think we’ve seen the last of them either. Thankfully, we’re loaded. But even that fruit bearing tree will run out eventually.

The only thing that can be done, is being done. A full on bullpen by committee. Luis Avilan is his normal self, but he can’t pitch everyday, and even he has had a couple of bad outings early. We need guys who are going to get the job done, quit serving up long balls, and throw strikes without trying to be cute about it.