House That Hank Built
Fansided

Atlanta Braves: What to do with Kevin Gausman? Trade Partners

By Matthew Browning

LOS ANGELES, CA - MAY 06: Starting pitcher Kevin Gausman #45 of the Atlanta Braves follows the game from the dugout after getting yanked out during the fifth inning giving up five runs on seven hits at Dodger Stadium on May 6, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - MAY 06: Starting pitcher Kevin Gausman #45 of the Atlanta Braves follows the game from the dugout after getting yanked out during the fifth inning giving up five runs on seven hits at Dodger Stadium on May 6, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 3
Next
ATLANTA, GA – MAY 29: Kevin Gausman #45 of the Atlanta Braves delivers in the first inning of an MLB game against the Washington Nationals at SunTrust Park on May 29, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GA – MAY 29: Kevin Gausman #45 of the Atlanta Braves delivers in the first inning of an MLB game against the Washington Nationals at SunTrust Park on May 29, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images) /

Move to the Bullpen

With the construction of the roster and the effectiveness of just two of his pitches, moving Gausman to the bullpen is the common sense solution.

According to Fangraphs, Gausman is essentially a two-pitch pitcher right now. He throws his fastball 56.4 percent of the time and his splitter 39.2 percent of the time.

That predictability has led to some of Gausman’s issues as batters have had little variance to what they are seeing over four to five innings.

But a two-pitch arsenal might be more effective in the bullpen for Gausman, as he can top out at 96-97 mph on his four-seam fastball and supplement that with an 83-84 mph splitter.

As the Braves’ bullpen is currently constructed, there are five guys safe to stay as relievers: Luke Jackson, Josh Tomlin, Sean Newcomb, Anthony Swarzak, and A.J. Minter.

The question that needs to be posed is this: Is Gausman a better fit than Jacob Webb or Daniel Winkler?

Moving Gausman to the bullpen and sending Winkler back down to Triple-A, or even designating him for assignment, would be my decision right now.

6-Man Rotation

With Mike Soroka and Max Fried likely being on some inning limitations, the Braves could keep Gausman in the bullpen as a long reliever, but also sporadically plug him into the rotation to give the youngsters a rest.

This seems risky, based on the data mentioned above.

Gausman clearly is struggling in bulk inning outings, so one to two inning outings would hopefully lead to more effective ones.

Home/Braves News