Atlanta Braves Scouting Report on Pitcher Chad Sobotka

Future Outlook

I’ve used this comp on guys many times before, but I really feel that he is a great guy to match with Sobotka due to size, repertoire, and even with current/future role. Braves fans may have mixed feelings on Derek Lowe, but he was a guy who was able to have 17 seasons in the major leagues. He started in the major leagues primarily as a reliever for his first five seasons, making just 22 starts in 298 appearances.

Lowe was similar in size to Sobotka when he came up at 6’6 and 230 pounds, so there’s similarity there, but the big similarity is in their pitch selection as Lowe featured a heavy fastball and a slider as his primary weapons out of the bullpen, polishing his change to move to the rotation in 2002 and stay there as a workhorse ground ball pitcher for 10 seasons before coming to the end of his career.

I’m not sure if health will allow Sobotka to return to a starting role, but in a relief role, there’s no reason he couldn’t be similar to Lowe in results, and Lowe was a dominant closer for the Red Sox that saved 85 games with a 2.89 ERA and 1.21 WHIP with a 76/241 BB/K ratio over 292 1/3 IP but also an excellent 0.6 HR/9 ratio.

Next: Braves Minor League Database

At his size and with the downward plane of the slider and fastball, Sobotka should have a solid floor as a ground-ball specialist in the major leagues. However, the way his slider has played up out of the bullpen, I really could see him as a future back-end reliever in the bullpen, possibly being an effective 8th/9th inning guy that keeps the ball on the ground when he isn’t striking them out.