Atlanta Braves: Is 2017 a make-or-break year for trio of young pitchers?

Pecking Order

Of the group, Foltynewicz has done the most to ensure his place in Atlanta’s long-term future. While his overall numbers don’t jump off the page, he has shown the ability to be dominant when his full repertoire is firing on all cylinders.

He provided key innings during Atlanta’s second-half hot streak and has actually demonstrated the best control of the trio (at least at the major league level). He has to be considered the early favorite to secure the fifth rotation spot behind Teheran, Colon, Dickey, and Garcia.

Wisler would figure to be the next man up. He has the superior big league results and an additional year of experience. While his performance with Atlanta has certainly provided some doubts about his ability to compete at the highest level, he did showcase better control and fared a bit better with damage control than Blair.

Finally, despite ending the year with a stellar performance (against a Detroit team battling for their playoff lives, no less), Blair brings up the rear. That isn’t necessarily a knock against his long-term outlook. The burly righty out of Marshall just has a shorter track record of success in the majors.

Roadblocks

At least for the upcoming season, the organization has shown a reluctance to allow those young pitchers to shoulder the bulk of the workload.

They’ve already added a pair of former Cy Young winners (R.A. Dickey and Bartolo Colon), traded for a third veteran starter (Jaime Garcia), and continue to be linked to high-profile names like Chris Archer. Those current (and potential) additions will, by necessity, cut into the number of available starts for Atlanta’s stable of young arms.

Of course, it’s important to note that these will not be permanent roadblocks. Dickey, Colon, and Garcia are all on one-year commitments. It isn’t as though the team went out and acquired three pitchers who project to remain with the team long-term. There’s still a path for all of team’s experienced youngsters to spend ample time in Atlanta (more on that in a bit). However, at least for the time being, John Coppolella and company have made that path rockier.

Next Wave On Their Heels

While the newly-added vets may provide the most salient threat to the starting hopes of Folty/Wisler/Blair, another, perhaps more serious threat awaits them.

During the aforementioned fire sale, Atlanta acquired more than just the trio we’ve been harping on so far.

• Big-armed lefty Sean Newcomb (acquired in the Andrelton Simmons trade) is likely to make his debut this season.
• Max Fried (acquired in the Justin Upton trade) has looked sharp in his return from Tommy John and could be a factor later in the season or by early 2018.
• Touki Toussaint (effectively purchased from the Diamondbacks) may also be on a similar timeline to Fried.

That doesn’t even mention Lucas Sims, the longest-tenured top Braves prospect, who may finally be ready to reach the majors in 2017.

In Atlanta’s deep system, there are plenty of others who will hopefully challenge for a rotation spot down the line (Kolby Allard, Mike Soroka, Ian Anderson, Kyle Muller, Joey Wentz, etc.) but they are far enough away to not pose an imminent threat to last year’s big league holdovers.