Atlanta Braves Prospect Update: Sean Newcomb Dazzles In Latest Start

Atlanta Braves left-handed pitching prospect Sean Newcomb has recently been overshadowed by Atlanta’s cupboard full of pitching prospects. Will this be the season he makes his ascent to the big leagues?

The Atlanta Braves organization is stuffed with elite pitching prospects. The full-scale rebuild shepherded by John Coppolella and John Hart has made for some lean years in terms of wins and losses, but man, the loaded farm system should make up for that in time.

By now you know the names of Atlanta’s most high ceiling prospects, heck, at this point Braves fans have familiarized themselves with even the mid-tier prospects. The system is stacked.

Ian Anderson, Touki Toussaint, and Luiz Gohara are thrilling fans in the lower levels of the minor leagues. Then there are guys like Joey Wentz, Kyle Muller, and Bryse Wilson. The list is seemingly endless.

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Kolby Allard, Max Fried, Mike Soroka, and Patrick Weigel are currently excelling in Double-A. Their dominance makes it easy to forget that the Braves have an elite pitching prospect one rung closer to Atlanta.

The Braves acquired Sean Newcomb from the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in November 2015. Atlanta sent defensive wizard Andrelton Simmons and Jose Briceno to the Angels for Newcomb, Erick Aybar, and Chris Ellis.

Newcomb was the prize of the deal. He’s a 6-foot-5 left-handed pitcher that throws in the mid-90s. Those types of prospects don’t grow on trees. Newcomb has been regarded as an elite prospect since he was drafted in the first round out of the 2014 MLB Draft.

During the 2016 season, his first in the Braves organization, Newcomb made 27 starts for the Mississippi Braves. Newcomb went 8-7 with 152 strikeouts, 71 walks, and a 3.86 ERA. Walks have always been Newcomb’s Achilles heel.

His walk rate actually improved last season from 15.9 percent while in Double-A with the Angels in 2015, to 11.9 percent in 2016 with Mississippi. The Braves, and Newcomb, would still like to see that number trimmed even further.

Here’s how Tomahawk Take’s own Benjamin Chase described Newcomb’s command issues before the season.

"Newcomb is a perfect example of command and control and the difference. Newcomb’s improved arm slot consistency drastically improved his command in 2016, and he frequently hit his catcher right in the glove presented without movement.However, Newcomb gets tremendous movement in all of his pitches, sometimes carrying the pitch a hair out of the zone. Now, what I will say is that often he would still catch the strike zone, but the movement was such that it surprised the umpire, I believe, and the minor league umpire called it a strike.For those who missed the distinction, when you read in a report about a pitcher’s command, the person writing that report is discussing the pitcher’s ability to hit the catcher’s mitt consistently.When referring to control, the report will be discussing the ability to consistently get a strike call. While Newcomb has taken significant strides forward in his command in 2016, he still was working on the added movement that taking a hair of velocity off of his pitches gave to him, which I truly believe will be something you’ll see him gain in 2017."

Newcomb began this season in Triple-A Gwinnett, looking to cut down on the walks that have plagued him throughout his minor league career. So far, walks have still be an issue. Entering Sunday’s start, Newcomb had compiled a 4.19 ERA with a 14.3 percent walk rate over four starts.

Sunday he showed why he should still be taken seriously as a prospect. When Newcomb is on, he can be electric. Against the Pawtucket Red Sox, Newcomb went seven innings allowing no runs, one hit, and compiling 11 strikeouts with just two walks. That makes back to back starts that Newcomb hasn’t allowed a run.

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Newcomb still has work to do before he’ll make his first appearance in Atlanta, but his last two starts are encouraging. As always, he has the “stuff” to be a major league starting pitcher. If he can cut down on his walk rate, and show that he’s improved his command, he could make his way into the Braves rotation sometime this summer.

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