We look at two former top pitching prospects for the Atlanta Braves and how they could still have a huge impact on this team in 2021.
The Atlanta Braves had a group of talented pitching prospects come through the system starting around the 2017 season and none of them have quite worked out the way we hoped.
You had Sean Newcomb, Touki Toussaint, Luiz Gohara, Kyle Wright, and Bryse Wilson.
To be fair, Max Fried came up around that same time and has worked out pretty well; although, it took some time for him.
But as for the first five I mentioned, Gohara is no longer in the league — and that’s just a sad and unfortunate situation.
The rest have all shown flashes but never been consistent enough to earn a regular spot in the starting rotation.
Wright and Wilson had the most success in 2020 and are likely the team’s sixth and seventh starters right now behind the top five.
But Newcomb and Toussaint remain huge question marks after a disastrous 2020 season for them.
If I’m being honest, both of them are likely trade bait and could use a change of scenery.
But I still believe there is hope for them to have big roles with the Braves … in the bullpen.
Braves New Multi-Inning Shutdown Relievers
Andrew Miller made it very popular to take a once-promising starting pitcher and turn him into a dominant multi-inning reliever. What the Indians did with him in their run to the World Series in 2016 changed the game.
Now everyone is trying to find that shutdown reliever who can go multiple innings.
You look at Josh Hader for the Milwaukee Brewers and what he does — many consider him to be the best reliever in all of baseball.
With starters no longer going very deep into games, you need those relievers who can give you a couple of quality innings in the middle of the game.
Insert Newcomb and Touki.