The Atlanta Braves have recently made a flurry of moves. We’ll talk who’s in, who’s out, and the possible impacts all players could have in the future.
Baseball season is a marathon, not a sprint. In the moment, as a fan, it’s tough when players don’t perform, or you go on a little losing streak after being on fire for the last 40 games. And that’s the case for the Atlanta Braves right now.
Over the past three games, several young pitchers have struggled.
Chiefly Kyle Wright, Touki Toussaint, and A.J. Minter when the Atlanta Braves lost to the Washington Nationals 13-4 on Thursday night. And then Bryse Wilson, Huascar Ynoa, and Touki again in a bad loss to Milwaukee on Tuesday.
In short, our pitching has been terrible for two games recently. It’s nothing to panic about long-term, though it is a bit concerning that every name involved is either a prospect that could either be dealt at the trade deadline for a return or is a piece that we consider to be a big part of the future.
What’s changed?
Who’s in: Wes Parsons, Patrick Weigel, Ender Inciarte
Wes Parsons, (MLB stats: 1-2, 3.77 ERA, 14.1 IP, 12K, 11BB)
Parsons looked like he could fit in the pen quite well in 2019. Outside of a home run he gave up on March 30, he tallied eight scoreless appearances in his first nine times taking the hill.
His cutter was working, boring in on righties, and things looked good for the long-toothed prospect.
After that, he gave up four runs over his next six appearances and was optioned to Triple-A on May 20.
At the surface, a 3.77 ERA isn’t so bad, but a 1.53 WHIP told the story. Parsons, in his time up, struck out 12 batters but walked 11. Ten of those walks came over his last six appearances before being sent down.
Parsons has pitched to a 2.02 ERA with Gwinnett this season, but has been hit fairly well (.263 BAA) and has registered a WHIP slightly better than in the bigs of 1.32.
Parsons surely won’t see any high leverage situations, but he’ll serve as the long man in the bullpen and be more of an innings eater.
Long term, unless Parsons dazzles, he is likely the first man out should he struggle.
Patrick Weigel (AAA/AA stats: 3-2, 2.98 ERA, 18g, 17gs, 60.1 IP, 52 K, 33 BB, .195 BAA)
Across two levels this year, Weigel has restored his status as a prospect after Tommy John surgery ended his 2017 season, when he may have been one of the first prospects from the whole bunch to arrive.
During the 2016 and 2017 season over three levels, he amassed a 3.04 ERA over 228 minor league innings, including a bit of a struggle with Gwinnett (5.27 ERA) before he was put under the knife.
A mid-90s fastball and three other offerings that have graded out well- a curve, change-up, and slider make Weigel a candidate to be a complete pitcher, and he should certainly, at some point, get a crack at the rotation.
For now, the 6-6, 240-pound righty will initially provide bullpen depth in a stretch where the Atlanta Braves are going with seven relievers, thanks to two off-days next week.
Ender Inciarte (MLB stats: 128 AB, .211 avg, 2 HR, 9 RBI, 3 SB)
Despite an All-Star appearance and three Gold Gloves for the Atlanta Braves, Inciarte did not receive a heroes’ welcome back to the starting lineup.
Instead, fans have seemingly sided with Austin Riley, a rookie who has slumped mightily after going on a month-long tear for the ages that was anything but sustainable.
Ender’s rehabilitation assignment droned on and on. Reports suggested that he would return as a backup player anyway, and it appears that Brian Snitker will stay true to that, for now.
And to be sure, Inciarte didn’t do much to help his own cause, hitting .205 over 44 at-bats with just one extra-base hit spending time with three different affiliates.
If Inciarte can play well, he does one of two things.
First, he could earn his way back into more playing time with the Atlanta Braves, and into what would almost be a platoon situation with Austin Riley.
Or two, playing better would serve as an audition for him, as his name has already been widely speculated as a possible trade candidate.
Either way, Ender’s Gold Glove defense and team-friendly contract rank him as an above replacement level player even if his hitting continues to struggle, so there’s definitely value there in a trade situation.
Who’s out: Bryse Wilson, Kyle Wright, Touki Toussaint, Huascar Ynoa
Let’s make this snappy, here. Wilson and Wright each have eight appearances in the Major Leagues.
No judgment can really be made on either of their futures based on that alone, so save that. There’s no reason to bring up stats and to try and point out flaws. They are rookies, they will either learn, or they won’t.
Let’s be real with Huascar Ynoa, too. How many of you had even heard of him before he got called up to the Major Leagues? A 2017 trade where we dumped some of Jaime Garcia‘s salary got him here.
Ynoa has only appeared in 17 games above high A, including both of his Major League appearances. He’s just over a month past his 21st birthday, has good stuff, and maybe he was thrust into a position that he wasn’t ready for.
Everyone knows that Touki Toussaint has electric stuff, and could be an amazing pitcher. Yet, he’s still only appeared in 31 Major League games.
I personally feel like Touki was on a longer leash than most because of his potential, but after a very rough month, and an even worse last couple of weeks, he was sent down.
What more can you ask the Atlanta Braves to do, here?
Over the next couple of weeks, and then months, we’ll find out who is going to stay, go, get traded, or be a contributor.
Take any random team that’s had a top-ranked farm system in the past 15 years, and tell me how many of those guys are still impact players today.
They aren’t all going to work out, but clearly, all four recently optioned pitchers still could.
As fans, we must be patient.
We’re still in first place — hang on. If you’re already hitting the eject button now, you’re simply not going to make it.