Atlanta Braves Morning Chop: Graduating, Signing, Keeping?
Sep 21, 2015; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Jhoulys Chacin (47) in the first inning of the game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
Braves Starting a Wave of Additional Pitching Options
There was already one this off-season: Bud Norris. Now comes word of the next pitching signee:
Jhoulys chacin signs minors deal with braves
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) December 14, 2015
Jhoulys Chacin (Yo-lease cha-SEEN) is a nearly-28-year-old right-hander from Venezuela, standing 6’3″/215. He was signed and broke into the majors with the Colorado Rockies in 2009.
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This could be an interesting pickup… if he’s managed to recover from a spate of injuries that have sidelined him through much of 2012, 2014, and 2015. You name it, he’s had it: bruised fingers (2011), forearm soreness (2011), tonsillitis (2011), shoulder inflammation (2012), blister (2012), shoulder inflammation again (2012 for 97 games), back spasms and then a strain (2013), thigh bruise from getting whacked (2013), shoulder strain (2014), and again later that year.
All of that happened as a member of the Rockies… and he pitched very well when he could stay on the mound. His lifetime ERA is 3.76… not half bad considering where he was playing during most of that time.
In 2015, Chacin was with the Diamondbacks and Indians, and got in about 155 innings of work… in the low 3’s for ERA. He is a ground-ball pitcher without overpowering stuff (6-7 K/9 rate) and will give up the occasional homer, but certainly has the potential to bounce back into the role of a starter, spot starter, long-relief man… any of that.
Chacin’s fastball averaged 88.6 mph last year – down from a high of 91 in 2010. He also features a slider and occasional curve ball. Pitchf/x gives him credit for a changeup (83mph) and cutter (86), but since everything else comes in at 77-81 mph, it’s going to be more about location than deception for Chacin to be successful… though it has clearly worked for him much of the time.
The Braves have been making a habit of grabbing up pitchers of his ilk in recent years. Most have not worked out, though. Last year’s big attempt was Wandy Rodriguez… then Trevor Cahill and Chien-Ming Wang. Gavin Floyd was another from a year earlier.
Let’s hope that this pickup represents yet another Atlanta success at the expense of the Diamondbacks.
As an aside, check out this opening comment from WalkOffWalk.com about the Chacin signing:
"You’d be hard pressed to find a team in baseball that hasn’t found players with more unique names than the Braves. They now have a Dansby, an Ender Inciarte, a Rutckyj, something called a Foltynewicz, an Ozhaino Albies, and still retain the services of Joey Terdoslavich."
Add Marc Rzepczynski to the team, and I think our work here will be complete… especially when pitching to A.J. Pierzynski. But “Scrabble” is currently with Oakland.
Next: A Bit of Good News Perhaps?