House That Hank Built
Fansided

Does Kevin Gausman’s start tonight determine Atlanta Braves trade direction?

By Alan Carpenter

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - MAY 23: Kevin Gausman #45 of the Atlanta Braves pitches during the third inning against the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park on May 23, 2019 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Daniel Shirey/Getty Images)
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - MAY 23: Kevin Gausman #45 of the Atlanta Braves pitches during the third inning against the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park on May 23, 2019 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Daniel Shirey/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
3 of 3
Next
Atlanta Braves
LOS ANGELES, CA – MAY 06: Starting pitcher Kevin Gausman #45 of the Atlanta Braves reaches for the ball and throws it erroneously to first base for a base hit by Cody Bellinger #35 of the Los Angeles Dodgers during the first inning at Dodger Stadium on May 6, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images) /

The Fix

According to O’Brien, the plantar fasciitis injury that Gausman was IL’d for was real… though it might have been something to ignore had everything else been working for him.

While that was given some rest, the video player was showing him something else that needed rehab time:  his curveball.

Gausman had shelved the pitch, but the Braves showed him that when he was getting hitters out, that it actually worked… and was probably better than he remembered.

You might see more tonight, too:  a changeup and a cutter… but mostly this is going to be about the re-addition of the curveball tonight.

The only gotcha?  He’s breaking this out against the Nationals in an important game… and not just for the NL East race.

Big Picture

O’Brien again:

"[The Braves] would like to see Gausman, after making adjustments and working on secondary pitches during his time away, show that he can pitch well enough to at least be a decent in-house option and lessen rather than increase the urgency for Atlanta to add a starter in a seller’s market before the July 31 trade deadline."

Gausman will have this start tonight, but the schedule from here is far from certain.

More from Tomahawk Take

Atlanta has off-days on both Monday and Thursday this week, which would put Gausman back on the mound no sooner than next Saturday against Philadelphia (assuming these off-days allow for a 4-man rotation to be employed over the rest of the month).

While we’ve been expected a slow trade season until next week, that’s not a lot of time to make a proper assessment of the Braves’ pitching needs.

Then there’s also Mike Foltynewicz still toiling at AAA.  His latest outing was more encouraging:  6K and 1 run allowed over 6 innings (3 walks besides) on the 18th.  Still not enough to make a decision on his status any time soon.

So Atlanta really needs Gausman to be… not just good, but really good tonight.  Or perhaps very good today and great next Saturday.  If not… some key prospects might end up elsewhere next week.

dark. Next. Atlanta's Scouting Pattern

Lots of wheels are continuing to turn in this engine… and right now, tonight’s starter is one of the key wheels.

Home/Braves News