Should the Atlanta Braves Consider Using An Opener

How Could this help Atlanta?

With the Braves struggles to find consistent pitching, this outside the box strategy could be useful. Especially for younger guys like Kyle Wright, Bryse Wilson, Huascar Ynoa, or Touki Toussaint.

These young pitchers have often struggled once they get into the 3rd or 4th inning. By using them in a headliner role, they would start the 2nd or 3rd inning and maybe only have to face the top of the lineup once or twice at most.

If they’re doing well, maybe they can be stretched out to face the bottom of the lineup for the 3rd time. By placing them in this role, they would be set up to potentially pitch an inning or two more than normal because when they’re starting to tire, and going through the order for the third time, they would be facing the bottom of the lineup rather than the top.

Plus, this allows a team to start a teams top hitters off with an elite reliever and keep a team off the scoreboard early. Remember, the first inning is the only time that a team can truly control what hitters go to the plate, after the first inning, that goes out the window.

This could also benefit the young guys by taking away those “first inning jitters.” The opener shuts down the door in the first against the top of the lineup, now the young pitcher can come in and ease into the game by facing the bottom of the rotation.

It’s an unconventional strategy, but I believe it’s worth considering if you are the Braves. It can’t be any worse than continuing to run Tommy Milone or Robbie Erlin out there every five days.

Maybe it sticks and one of the young pitchers catches rhythm. Now they could begin to build confidence and start to believe that they belong in the big leagues.

If Cole Hamels returns, Max Fried continues to pitch like an ace, and Ian Anderson continues to establish himself in the Atlanta rotation, the Braves would only need to find one more “starting” pitcher come the postseason.

Maybe the opener into one of the younger pitchers as the headliner can serve as their fourth pitcher. In the postseason, pitchers don’t always go as deep as a regular season game, so bringing on an opener and then having a headliner go three to four innings would be perfect for a postseason game, especially with the Braves elite bullpen there for the back half of games.

It’s a relatively new concept in baseball to use an opener, but the Braves need to find something that can help stabilize their rotation. It may be worth a shot if you’re Atlanta, it can’t get much worse than it already is, and if it doesn’t work they can always can the idea after a few games.

With less than three weeks to go before the postseason, the Braves need to figure out their pitching problem, maybe the opener can be the solution.