Another wash-out means another day to rest and recover. For one Braves player, that means another day to wait for his debut.
First, the schedule: we have a split day/night double-header for the Atlanta Braves and Texas Rangers today, thanks to the cold front that could keep Atlanta from seeing too much of Hurricane Irma next week.
- Game 1 – 1:35 PM EDT. Luiz Gohara will be starting this game.
- Game 2 – 7:35 PM EDT. Julio Teheran‘s turn.
The Brazilian-born Gohara has had a very interesting year. On January 10th, he was the property of the Seattle Mariners and likely starting to prepare for a trip to Arizona. On the 11th, all of that changed.
Seems that Seattle was in the process of – for lack of a better word – shedding themselves of prospects that they felt were not going to make it in their system for some reason or another. That happened with both Gohara in this deal (which included Rome pitcher Thomas Burrows) and with the acquisition of Alex Jackson 2 months prior.
The reason for this deal apparently had nothing to do with Gohara’s “stuff” or even with his conditioning – said to be an on-going concern (he’s listed at 6’3″/210…. but has been for a while).
Ken Rosenthal reported at the time that Seattle almost had Gohara traded to the Reds for Zack Cozart last year… but the Reds ended up rejecting the deal on medical grounds. They didn’t like what they saw about his shoulder.
Enter the Braves:
"Braves general manager John Coppolella, when asked about Gohara’s condition on Wednesday night, responded, “Our medical group puts a lot of time, effort and thought into evaluating every potential acquisition. We have had to walk away from two trades this offseason because of failed medicals. We feel good about the health of both players we acquired in the trade.”"
Not only did the Braves feel comfortable about what they saw, they felt more comfortable about this than with some other deals they could have had.
So in that same story by Rosenthal, the reactions were swift from two scouts who texted him without even getting an invitation to do so:
"“Giving up Gohara, worst move EVER!!” the first scout said.“Best pitcher in the Arizona Fall League,” the second scout said, adding that he saw Gohara throw 97 to 100 mph in an outing late in the AFL season."
Of note: in 2015, these players were 1 and 2 on MLB Pipeline’s Seattle prospects list.
This is why the Braves are high on the young (21 year old) Brazilian. This is why today will be the fourth level he has pitched at this season.
Gohara’s fastball and slider are his bread and butter… with a 60-to-70 grade hung on the fastball and the slider being an ‘out pitch’.
In the minors, Gohara has made 25 starts and thrown almost 124 innings, striking out 147. The walk rate is decent, though increased at AAA (nearly one every other inning vs. 1 per 3+ innings elsewhere).
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That said, his Gwinnett debut accounted for most of that increase: 5 walks and 5 runs in 4.2 innings. He did have another 5 run outing, but settled in with 4 excellent starts to finish up his AAA season. Of note, though? Gohara’s strikeout rate has increased as he’s moved up the ladder this year.
He won’t be perfect … wouldn’t be surprised at all to see a homer or two leave the yard today… but this isn’t about perfection: it’s about getting Gohara’s feet wet in this major league pool.
So expect him to go about 5 innings and perhaps yield a couple of runs. But regardless, let’s also see whether he can match up with these Rangers’ bats… that will be what we need to see today.
Mike Dunn to Head Florida Ops for Atlanta Braves
BALLPARK DIGEST EDITORS / BALLPARKDIGEST.COM (Sept. 2)
Mike Dunn is the new Vice President of Florida Operations for the Atlanta Braves, as the former Rome Braves (Low A; Sally League) GM will oversee development of the MLB team’s new spring-training complex in the West Villages in North Port.
Dunn has been a GM in the Braves organization [in the lower minors] for 21 years and has been down the new-ballpark route before when he was project manager for the construction of State Mutual Stadium while overseeing the move of the Braves from Macon to Rome.
[ Ed. note: No, he’s not that Michael Dunn, the Marlins reliever and former Braves pitcher. This Mike Dunn will be taking over where John Schuerholz left off and he will be responsible for getting the new Spring Training facility in North Port constructed and running by January 2019.
Congratulations and good luck!
Next: Double Dipping for Double Delights?
Let’s see if perhaps the Braves can repeat what they did against the Phils last week and stymie the Rangers in the process.