Three takeaways: Atlanta Braves comeback falls short vs Pirates
Kevin Gausman appears to be the weak link of the Braves’ rotation.
There’s no pleasant way to put this: Kevin Gausman’s 2019 season can be characterized as “consistently inconsistent”, and the bad side of that coin has been downright ugly.
His last two starts, in particular, have been especially worrisome.
The combined numbers for those two starts?
6 innings pitched, 14 earned runs.
Maybe it’s not fair to put it all on Gausman, whose peripheral stats (3.68 FIP and 4.45 xFIP) indicate he hasn’t actually been quite as awful as you’d assume at first glance.
But the harsh reality is the ERA has ballooned to over 6.00, the walk rate is as high as it has ever been, and this is an Atlanta Braves team that is seeking to solidify its starting rotation for the summer stretch.
Like other contenders in baseball – and, despite what gloom-and-doomers might suggest, at less than two games out in the division race, the Braves would most certainly fit the bill as a “contender” – Atlanta will need to make some critical decisions in the near future.
Dallas Keuchel remains a free agent, while July is the month of MLB’s trade deadline, with a handful of viable starting pitching options out there on the market.
The Braves, in their bid to repeat as division champions, must ask themselves this very simple, four-worded question as the midseason nears:
Can we do better?
Can Atlanta do better than the production they’re currently getting from Kevin Gausman, either by trade or free agency?
If Gausman doesn’t turn around his performance soon, the answer to that question will likely be “yes”, and it makes no sense for anyone other than Gausman to get shuffled out of the current rotation.
Mike Soroka has been the staff ace, while Max Fried and Julio Teheran have been mostly solid over the first two-plus months of the season. Mike Foltynewicz’s 2018 top-of-the-rotation track record suggests that he’s due for an uptick in his performance soon.
For Gausman, though?
The clock is ticking.