3 ways the Atlanta Braves could show their desperation for pitching

#1. Reclamation Projects/Creativity.

SEATTLE. Taijuan Walker. Fred Owens likes the idea of taking Kyle Seager‘s contract from them to pry Walker loose. Do the Braves have the cash to do this? Would they be willing to send Johan Camargo or Austin Riley back in return?

PITTSBURGH. Now that Joe Musgrove is hurt, do you roll the dice and tell the Pirates you’d take him anyway in the hope that he heals up? Maybe with some PTBNL contingency involved?  There’s a high-risk trade, for sure.

KANSAS CITY. Danny Duffy has a $15 million contract on a team going nowhere. He also has a 5+ ERA. However, he’s got 20 strikeouts in 19.1 innings, walked only 6, and has a WHIP of 1.03.

One of those games was against the Minnesota Bombers (giving up 4 earned). He also shut down the Cubs on 1 run over 6 innings. If there’s a comeback story, Duffy might play the lead… and he’s under team control for another year.

That’s three.  You might also consider Robbie Ray, though he’s been struggling a lot more than most in games this year against the Padres, Dodgers, Astros, and Rockies.

Of course, many pitchers would have trouble with those teams, but his ERA is well over 10 now and he’s averaging only 4.1 innings per start and walking a lot of hitters.

There are a lot of other pitchers in this category.  Some are simply “inning eaters” that you’d expect to give up 5 or 6 runs per game.  But right now, even that has value, for you simply can’t afford to go deep into your bullpen every single night.

But desperate teams can do desperate things if they aren’t careful.  It’s August 13 and the trade deadline happens in 18 days.

We may soon see just how desperate these Atlanta Braves are.