Braves: Kyle Wright Shaky in Opening Impression for Rotation

After showing some major strides in 2020 for the Atlanta Braves, we’re certainly hoping that Kyle Wright is able to continue that progression in 2021. 

I was a little surprised when the Atlanta Braves signed Drew Smyly this past offseason to be the team’s fifth starter.

Mostly because of the $11 million they gave up to be a fifth starter, but also because I thought Kyle Wright made a lot of improvement in 2020 and deserved that spot in the rotation.

Thinking about it more logically now, the Braves understand you’re going to need to spread out of a lot of innings from your starters this season. It’s wise to be seven or eight deep in the rotation as the Braves are.

But the Smyly signing also told us a little bit about what the Braves think of Wright — they don’t believe he officially turned a corner in 2020.

If they did, they could have saved that $11 million, let Wright go into the season as the fifth starter, and then signed a veteran for depth at a much cheaper rate.

That’s what I would have done anyway, but that’s a story for another time.

Sunday’s outing was Wright’s first chance in 2021 to move past the collapse in the NLCS and show that he’s still the pitcher that had four really good consecutive starts to end 2020 and into his first postseason starter.

He didn’t accomplish that on Sunday, giving up 3 earned runs on 4 hits and a walk over 1.1 innings with 1 strikeout.

I wasn’t able to watch the game, but just reading the comments from Brian Snitker, it sounds like Wright fell back into the trap of trying to be too perfect.

Most of his struggles when he was first called up was that he was trying to make the perfect pitch every time he threw and wanted to strike everyone out.

That led to a lot of walks and a lot of balls spinning over the middle of the plate — that sounds exactly like what happened on Sunday.

He has to get back to trusting his stuff in the zone, which he admitted after the game is what he’ll try to do going forward in Spring Training.

Even if Wright doesn’t win the temporary fifth spot out of Spring Training for the Braves, he’s going to play a huge role in the rotation throughout 2021.

We need to know that when his number is called we can expect him to be a more consistent pitcher.

Other Braves notes from Sunday’s game:

– Snitker said that Sean Newcomb (despite giving up a solo HR), Carl Edwards Jr., and Tucker Davidson threw the ball well. Edwards was the only Braves pitcher to have a clean inning.

– Austin Riley had a big day at the plate with a pair of hits, a run scored, and an RBI. He did strikeout in his other at-bat.

– The other Braves regular in the lineup, Dansby Swanson, picked up a hit and a walk with an RBI.

– Pablo Sandoval, competing for a bench spot, was 1-for-3, while Jason Kipnis — also fighting for that same bench spot — was 0-for-3 with an RBI and 2 strikeouts.

– Alex Jackson got the first turn at catcher and was 0for-1 with a walk and a run scored. But it Shea Langeliers who impressed with a cannon throw to cut down a would-be base stealer.

The Braves will be back in action on Monday afternoon against the Boston Red Sox with Huascar Ynoa on the mound. The game will be shown on MLB Network through the Red Sox broadcast on NESN.