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Atlanta Braves Mid-Season Prospect Reports, Part 2

By Alan Carpenter

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9. Jason Hursh

The Good:

It was roughly when TomahawkTake was preparing a piece for him that Jason Hursh had one of the best 2 weeks of his season:  a 3-start stretch where he displayed what he could be when he’s on his game, moving the ball around the bottom of the zone with good late sinking break on all of his pitches and the ability to throw a straight fastball high in the zone that completely throws batters off.

The Not-So-Good:

Those things only happened in about 3 starts this season. Otherwise, it’s been brutal. He’s been above a 5 ERA the entire season, not dipping below the whole year so far. While he’s actually ticked up his K rate to 15.6% after usually being around 13-13.5%, his walk rate is up to 9.3%, and hitters are hitting .331 on him. Fangraphs gives him a FIP of 3.72, but the eye test says that the hits aren’t just a sign of bad luck or poor defense. Hursh is getting hit hard, albeit not out of the park often as usual, but balls are screaming off the bat when you watch a bad display.

As a direct result, the Braves have made the decision:  moving Hursh to a bullpen role.  In doing so, this allows him to ignore his lesser pitch offerings and concentrate on what he’s good at:  that heavy fastball and slider combination with peak speeds in the upper 90’s.

So while this is the ‘Not So Good’ section, the results of Hursh-to-the-pen have actually been good – good enough to send him to AAA.  Let’s see how that’s worked:

The Stats:

  • Gwinnett (AAA, 4 relief appearances):  5.2 innings, ERA 0.00.  0.53 WHIP.  2 hits, 1 walk, 0 strikeouts.
  • Mississippi (AA, 15 starts):   WHIP 1.85, opponent average .338, ERA 5.63.  Pitched into the 6th inning or later just 7 times.
  • Mississippi (AA, 9 relief appearances):  12 innings, 11 hits, 3 ER, 0 HR, 2 BB, 9 K.  1.16 WHIP, 2.25 ERA.

TRENDING:

Hursh is only 5 days older than Mike Foltynewicz, but the two are on very different paths right now. At times, Hursh certainly flashed the stuff to make you think he could be a tremendous Derek Lowe type of innings eater sinker baller, but don’t forget that Lowe had a very good run in the bullpen, and it appears that the Braves have decided that Hursh it that kind of pitcher at this point.  So far, so good at AAA, and he could get a chance to see this hard sinker/late-breaking slider combo next Spring, but we’ll need more time to see if his control is maintained in that role.

Next: Manny Happy Returns?

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