The Atlanta Braves added two veteran pitchers to their stable of young pitchers but still find themselves in need of starters. And they aren’t alone.
Atlanta Braves’ fans know the story of the team’s decimated starting rotation, so I won’t go through the gory details. News that Cole Hamels is throwing long toss, and fingers crossed, looks on track for a September first return is the only glimmer of hope on the horizon.
Touki Toussaint pitched well against an aggressive Blue Jays’ lineup and, despite throwing a hanging slider to Aaron Judge and a tailing fastball out of Freddie Freeman’s reach, offers hope for one of the rotation openings.
However, Sean Newcomb’s flameout was both predictable and disappointing.
The fan experts on Twitter are demanding Ian Anderson, but the GM’s indicated the Braves don’t believe internally he’s ready.
So far, we’ve seen Huascar Ynoa make a two-inning start (he gets another Wednesday night), and the recall of Bryse Wilson to take the roster spot vacated by Newcomb’s demotion, lead to his less than stellar relief outing against the Yankees.
It seems clear that the Atlanta Braves are using every experienced internal option before promoting Patrick Weigel or Tucker Davidson, although both are on the 40-man roster.
The fans, and media types who only know high profile prospects, are talking about Anderson, who is not on the roster.
If the Braves continue their current course, one or both of Weigel and Davidson will get a shot before Anderson floats to the top of the list because the GM said more than once, they don’t feel he’s ready.
I’ll leave the Anderson debate for later, and concentrate on the arms race forming in the starting pitcher trade market.