Who Will Be Atlanta Braves Sunday Starter
By Fred Owens
Super Two ??
While there is no way Folty can become a super two player and earn an extra year of arbitration, bringing up Blair before the middle of June would certainly put him on the road to do that. It now appears Coppolella has decided to try to quiet the fans base even if it costs him a year of control of Blair.
Bringing Blair up now might result in two or three more wins IF the offense can score enough runs and the bullpen can hold the lead. It will not make this lineup/roster a challenger in 2016. Why then waste a year of control of a pitcher you hope to have in your rotation for six years on a season where the team is not going to win?
It’s very likely that in six weeks both pitchers will be with the team anyway as Bud Norris simply isn’t up to the job. Even if Norris stays, history says another starter will be needed because of injury or schedule issues.
Bringing up Folty up now would allow the call up of Blair to be deferred long enough to keep that extra year of control. That’s the logical business decision in this situation.
But John Coppolella said. . .
Maybe the GM decided he couldn’t be seen to say one thing and do another again. Having said so publicly that he would not let super two or financial considerations stop him from calling a player up this year he could hardly give that as a reason for a delayed call.
Most assumed that the unspoken part of that was, ‘if he’s needed and makes sense’. That would translate to a situation where the team was a pitcher away from challenging the Mets and Nationals for the division.
That isn’t going to happen this year but they hope it will the next six years or more so it would seem far wiser to save money where possible in order to spend it on things you need to win then. Coppy apparently disagrees.
That’s A Wrap
I’m in no way shape or form a fan or an apologist for Coppolella nor am I diametrically opposed to him. The decision to bring Blair improve the rotation this year, perhaps adding two or three wins in the extra six starts he’ll get at the major league level.
We saw last year that even pitchers having really good years need runs scored behind them in order to win. The lineup lacks the ability to create those runs, a defense solid enough to help the pitcher prevent runs and a bullpen dependable enough to hold the leads it’s given; so far they’ve done nothing to change that.
Calling up Blair will generate fan interest and pacify temporarily some of the front office’s most vocal critics. Perhaps the GM brain trust felt that’s something that needed to be done no matter the cost.
Next: Is the dirt doing us dirty?
While they are in this mood perhaps they’ll call up Rio Ruiz and move Adonis Garcia and his iffy glove to left field. Probably not but if but if Ruiz keeps hitting and Garcia keeps bobbling the ball and testing Freddie Freeman‘s ability to scoop it would seem the next logical step.
Time will tell whether they continue down this path and if the decision to call Blair now was the right one for the long-term good of the team.