Atlanta Braves: Kyle Wright seeks to take advantage of opportunity

What does Kyle Wright project to do for the Atlanta Braves in 2020?

Let’s just say the chips have fallen much more in Kyle Wright’s favor in the early goings of 2020, as compared to 2019.

While Opening Day is still days away, Wright has to be feeling a lot better about his odds to make the final cut of the 30-man roster.

This is largely in part due to the recent events that have cleared the once-muddy picture of the Atlanta Braves rotation.

Veteran Felix Hernandez, who was signed to a minor-league deal back in January, opted out of the 2020 MLB season due to health concerns in the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Meanwhile, Cole Hamels continues to battle through injuries, currently facing triceps tendinitis that sidelined him for the beginning of the season on the IL (injured list).

Your move, Kyle Wright.

How will the 24-year old handle the opportunity?

Pitching projections for a young arm are tricky enough as is, but especially so in an abbreviated season that may very well consist of 6 or 7-men starting rotations, and occasional “starters” (relief pitchers beginning games instead of serving as “closers”) as Braves manager Brian Snitker has already hinted at.

After all, it’s going to be a substantially shorter season, and managers are going to have to empty their bag of tricks to “play to win” even more so than normal.

Nevertheless, the opportunity is here for Wright, and here’s a reasonable thought for how he could perform.

Firstly, I say it comes to pass over the next few days that Wright seals his spot on the 30-man roster to begin the season (I certainly hope this is the case, anyways, as Wright needs this short season more than most to prove his growth and value to the team).

Over the course of this 60-game season, Wright gets eight starts with Atlanta (while also getting a couple of long-relief appearances), and that he’ll make the most of the opportunity.

Over those outings, I think he keeps the ERA right around 4.00 (far down from the 8.69 ERA he had in four starts last year), while continuing the upward trend in his strikeout numbers at 9.2 K/9 (up from 8.24 K/9 in Atlanta last year).

I’ll also say Wright trims his walk rate down a small amount, as he attacks hitters with an increased confidence in his repertoire.

To summarize, here are my projections for Kyle Wright in 2020:

• 8 starts
• 3-2 record
• 4.00 ERA
• 9.2 K/9
• 1.20 WHIP
• 4th most innings pitched (behind Soroka, Fried, and Foltynewicz)

These numbers would definitely provide a reason for optimism going forward for Kyle Wright, as he looks to make his move to join the likes of Mike Soroka and Max Fried as starting pitchers of the future for the Atlanta Braves.