Atlanta Braves: Who is Anyelo Gomez and why should we care?

The Braves made one pick in the Rule 5 draft this Winter and plucked a relief pitcher from a bulging Yankee organization that had no room on their roster. Now what?

With the 5th pick of the 2018 Rule 5 Draft, the Atlanta Braves selected pitcher Anyelo Gomez from the New York Yankees.

Gomez is going to celebrate his 25th birthday tomorrow as a member of the Atlanta Braves… and there’s a good chance he will still be an Atlanta Brave at the end of March.

This Cotul, Dominican-born right-hander (more-or-less in the middle of that country) was signed an an international free agent in November 2012 – somewhat of an unusual case as (a) he wasn’t signed in July as most Latin teens do; (b) he was already 19 years old – not 16 or 17.

As you scan through his statsheet, though, you might conclude that the additional years of maturing may have been good for him.

Breakout?

In 2017, Gomez pitched at four minor league levels – not counting the Dominican Winter League – throwing 70 innings.

His composite ERA for the year? 1.92. His worst ERA at any of these stops?  Just 2.55 – down in Florida (A+ ball).

The longest stop he had last year was almost 37 innings worth at AA Trenton of the Eastern League. But the numbers were good everywhere:

• WHIP 1.024
• K per 9 innings: 11.1
• BB per 9 innings: 2.7
• Dominican Winter League: 2.45 ERA, 20 appearances (18.1 innings), with a 0.982 WHIP.

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Now it could have been simply an extraordinary year for him: previous ERA figures do suggest that 2017 was a bit out of the ordinary.  But he did throw to a 2.41 ERA in 2015 during his first year in the states, so perhaps 2016’s 4.18 ERA was the aberration and not the other way ’round.

The thing that separates Gomez from others is that he seems to be missing bats and inducing a low of weaker contact – lots of ground balls. This is a product of his changeup, which is clearly keeping hitters off stride. That and he seems to know how to find the strike zone, which has long been the bugaboo for many Braves’ pitchers.

Gomez only saw 2 innings in AAA before the end of last season, but when the Yankees could not protect him, the Braves seized the opportunity.

As with all Rule 5 picks (Daniel Winkler is still in this boat, having still not quite yet fulfilled his roster stint), the player must be on the major league roster for a full season, lest be offered back to the original club – the Yankees in this case.

So far? Yeah…

Next: Your Wednesday lineups vs. Mets (and Tebow)

So while nothing is set yet, don’t be surprised if the Braves end up with two Rule 5 picks in their bullpen come April.