Atlanta Braves: Kyle Wright seeks to take advantage of opportunity

Kyle Wright’s struggles in the Atlanta Braves organization in 2019 will make him stronger.

It’s fair to say that Kyle Wright was tossed into the proverbial fire in early 2019.

Due to injuries to a couple of other starters, Wright was unexpectedly thrust into one of the most magnified of atmospheres: his first career MLB start, coming on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball telecast.

It came on the road, against the Philadelphia Phillies and their much-hyped, highly powerful lineup.

Things didn’t pan out so well in that debut for the Braves starter, as he walked five men and failed to make it through the fifth inning.

In fact, Kyle Wright was handed a loss in two of his three early-season outings with Atlanta, struggling with 10 walks in a total of 14 innings pitched over those three games.

When reinforcements arrived to the Atlanta rotation, Wright was sent back down to Gwinnett to put to use his lessons learned.

But it didn’t come easy.

From mid-April through late-August in 2019, Wright tallied 21 starts with Triple-A, and the results – at first glance – were less than stellar.

Wright’s 4.17 ERA in those 21 minor league starts, along with a slightly worse 4.32 FIP, weren’t exactly the totals that many expected, given how Wright ended the previous season so strongly.

Sandwiched in the middle of that four-month experience back with Gwinnett was another cameo appearance at SunTrust Park vs the Washington Nationals.

For Wright, it was a chance to redeem himself of the early-season struggles he had in March and April with the big club.

But this start, too, went sideways early, with Wright surrendering 7 runs in less than three innings pitched.

However, a deeper look at the way Kyle Wright sprinted to the finish line in 2019 reveals that the struggles in Atlanta only toughened his skin.

After that poor July spot-start versus Washington, here’s what Wright did the rest of the way in Gwinnett, stats per BaseballReference’s minor league splits:

• 7 starts
• 4 wins (no losses, 3 no-decisions)
• 2 ER or fewer in five of the seven starts
• Averaged seven strikeouts per start
• At least 6 innings pitched in five of the seven starts

Something clicked for Kyle Wright down the stretch.

His 3.10 ERA over five Triple-A starts in the month of August reflect that change, as does his uptick in strikeout rates (10.9 K/9 in August of ’19 with Gwinnett).

It’s this momentum that he carries with him into baseball’s abbreviated 2020 season, and gives Atlanta Braves fans renewed hope that the promise is there for him to achieve success.

There’s an old adage that says “Success occurs when preparation meets opportunity.” Kyle Wright had extensive preparation through his ups and downs in 2019.

Here comes the opportunity.