Atlanta Braves Rotation Taking Shape
By Fred Owens
Former Rockie Jhoulys Chacin’s two appearances and five IP resulted on an ERA of 0.00 and a WHIP of 0.80 and included four strikeouts. The sample size is of course tiny but what it does show is that Chacin completely looks for the first time in a long time and that’s good news.
Pitching for the Rockies from 2010 through 2013 Chacin posted a 3.58 ERA, 3.93 FIP and 1.323 WHIP over 104 games including 97 starts. Shoulder injuries plagued him in 2014 and the Rockies let him go in March last year. He had a cup of coffee with Cleveland (minors) and Arizona where he appeared in just five games including four starts throwing 26 2/3 innings with a 3.38 ERA, 4.63 FIP and a 1.275 WHIP.
Shoulders are the least predictable injury a pitcher can have but if Chacin is indeed healthy his record at Coors shows he has the stuff to be a very good middle of the rotation guy. The best case is a routine to his early form with the Rockies making the 28 year old righty an interesting addition to the young arms for at least this season and possibly longer. Worst case scenario: he swallows enough innings to allow the younger pitchers to develop without being rushed.
This evening we’ll see if Manny Banuelos can stake his claim to the fifth spot in the rotation which appears to be down to either him or Wilson Williams Pérez.
That’s A Wrap
The braves also sent Daniel Castro back to Gwinnett’s camp today reducing the number of players left with the big team to 49. I doubt that indicates anything more than his place of the totem pole as shuffling players between camps is pretty common.
In the last two days outfielders Dian Toscano, Dustin Peterson, KD Kang and Connor Lien, RHP Brandon Barker, shortstops Johan Camargo and Emerson Landoni, 2B Barrett Kleinknecht, and 1B Jake Schrader were all assigned to the Braves. If you kept saying who, that was the point.
Next: Toscano really does exist. . .
It’s early days yet but seeing Kendrick and Volstad shown the door is a good sign for Chacin. Banuelos has to be favorite right now for the fifth spot; if he takes it I expect Perez to start at Gwinnett since the bullpen appears to be a bit crowded right now.
The bullpen looks to have plenty of depth and if the rotation stays healthy it could be solid if not spectacular. IF – yes a big if- that happens all the lineup has to do is score them some runs. How they will do that is the still unanswered question.