Braves News: Kolby Allard called up, Soroka possibly in line to start Friday

In case you missed it last night after the game, the Braves announced Kolby Allard would make his season debut and start today’s game with the Minnesota Twins. The pending move was officially announced this morning via the Braves' official Twitter account; Dereck Rodriguez was sent back to Gwinnett in order to activate Allard.

Many thought Michael Soroka was going to be the guy to make this start, but the Braves opted for Allard instead. Mark Bowman shares some thoughts as to why the Braves went in this direction and what plan they may be implementing in the coming series.

Now this list of potential starters through the all-star break isn’t set in stone, but Bowman usually has a good feel for these types of things so I’d definitely monitor the upcoming news. Even those around the Braves found it odd Allard was chosen to start today, considering he’s made just two Triple-A starts in his rehab. However, if you throw Allard a few innings and utilize the bullpen a lot with tomorrow's off day, that plan begins to make more sense.

Using Allard today also benefits you by giving both Charlie Morton and Spencer Strider an extra day of rest before the all-star break. Max Fried has yet to face live batters, and Kyle Wright just began throwing again, so creating some extra rest for the two guys the Braves have leaned on the most in the rotation is not the worst idea.

Although Kolby Allard was once a first-round pick of the Braves, he will be making his Braves debut this afternoon. I would expect after the Braves get whatever innings they can from him they will allow him to continue to get stretched out down in Gwinnett, and promote our Canadian son, Michael Soroka, back to Atlanta. That would mean Soroka could be starting a game in Atlanta for the first time since 2020 come this Friday. Let’s keep our fingers crossed for the official announcement soon.