Atlanta Braves: Who could temporarily fill Mike Soroka’s shoes

A large part of the storyline for the Atlanta Braves last season was the injury of Mike Soroka. The Achilles tear was devastating, but the full effect of the injury was not felt until the postseason.

Many fans (myself included) thought that if the Braves had had Soroka, they would have prevailed in the NLCS over the Los Angeles Dodgers. All of my emotional baggage aside, Soroka will likely not be available for a couple of weeks to start the season.

Someone will have to fill the void in the #5 spot in the rotation. For the purposes of this article, I will assume that the first four rotation spots will be occupied by Max Fried, Ian Anderson, Charlie Morton, and Drew Smyly.

There are quite a few candidates for the 5th spot in the rotation. I’ll cover who I think should win the spot out of Bryse Wilson, Kyle Wright, Sean Newcomb, and Huascar Ynoa. Each has merits, but I think there are some who are more worthy than others.

Like I did last time I wrote an article, I’ll highlight my favorite baseball card I own of each player.

A new contender

I’d wager that many Braves fans hadn’t heard of Huascar Ynoa before last season. He was a bit of an obscure prospect in the Braves system, but the strange season allowed him a chance to prove himself.

In his time in the bigs in 2020, he showed flashes, but he didn’t entirely impress. He posted a 5.82 ERA, 17 Ks in 21.2 IP, 1.662 WHIP, a 1.3077 K/BB ratio (which is not good). However, his FIP (fielding independent pitching) of 4.90 indicates that he was a bit unlucky.

I think Ynoa could certainly be useful to the Braves in the long term. However, I don’t think that would be as a starter. He tended to do a decent job in his first path through the batting order, but the second time was often fraught with difficulties.

Another Lefty?

You really have to feel bad for Sean Newcomb. He finally got another chance to start in 2019, and then he got hit in the head by a hard-hit line drive. Obviously, his health and safety were the first priority, but when he came back his rotation opportunity had evaporated.

Fifty-one of his 55 game appearances came as a reliever in 2019, with his overall line being a 3.16 ERA, 65 Ks in 68.1 IP, a WHIP of 1.317, and a solid 2.2414 K/BB ratio. His FIP of 4.24 indicates that some luck went into his ERA stat.

Just like Ynoa, I think Newcomb’s long-term future with Atlanta (If he has one) is in the bullpen. Newcomb’s biggest problem is that the Braves already have 3 excellent lefthanders ahead of him in the bullpen hierarchy. I hope he’s able to find a role with the team.

The Final Fight

As you may have guessed by now, the two biggest contenders for the 5th spot are Bryse Wilson and Kyle Wright. Both are highly drafted players, with Wright being the 7th overall selection and Wilson being a 4th round pick.

Both certainly showed flashes of greatness in 2020. Wright had great moments in the regular season, but also quite a few games where control issues threw him off. Wilson had about the same story as far as that goes, but he had a little over half of Wright’s innings in 2020.

Wilson posted a 4.02 ERA, 15 Ks in 15.2 IP, a WHIP of 1.723, and a K/BB ratio of 1.6667. His FIP of 4.85 indicates that he was somewhat lucky, but once again, it’s a very small sample size. In the past, I thought Wilson was very hittable. One game changed my entire perspective in 2020.

Wilson’s outdueling of Clayton Kershaw in the 2020 NLCS was a masterpiece. He looked like a different pitcher than I’d ever seen him. He looked confident, and his stuff looked great. It certainly did not seem like a fluke to me.

Kyle Wright put up a 5.21 ERA, 30 Ks in 38 IP, a 1.553 WHIP, and a 1.25 K/BB ratio. His FIP of 5.90 is a bit higher, continuing the trend of these Braves pitchers outperforming their FIPs.

Kyle Wright also had a pretty solid playoff moment himself against the Miami Marlins. However, against the Dodgers, he did not do well. Quite frankly, the Dodgers ate him alive. I’m not discounting that that Dodgers team had an incredibly overpowered lineup.

However, the difference between their performances was striking to me. Wilson looked like he was made for the moment. Wright, not so much. I think the difference in these performances has certainly shaped my personal opinion.

There is still a competition to be had. I still believe that Wright can be a long-term starter for the Braves, I just don’t know when. May the best man win!