When I take a look at the Braves’ pitching staff, there are two things I can be certain about:
- The Braves have too much talent for their own good.
- The staff is by far the most injured pitching staff in baseball.
Yet, somehow, Frank Wren has made moves with this roster that literally make him look like a sorcerer – he has found a way to make this staff work. Though it might not be the best pitching staff in baseball anymore, the guys in the front office have done a great job of making sure the team has an arm on the hill that they can be confident in. Floyd for Hudson. Harrang for Beachy. Santana for Medlen, and in some capacity, Minor as well. They’ve found a way to make it work. For a short time there, this staff was on pace to be the best in baseball, and while cooling off was inevitable, the Braves are still holding on to the 5th best team ERA in baseball.
However, the Braves’ pitching staff seems disorganized, and rather dysfunctional at times. In many cases, all Freddy Gonzales can really do is throw a pitcher out there on the mound and hope that he can come through. While it would seem that the team would be able to come up with a better system considering the amount of talent they have, that hasn’t happened. This is probably because the pitching staff in Atlanta seems to be changing on a weekly basis, still. Gavin Floyd’s injury was unfortunate, though it has allowed for Alex Wood to be cemented into his role for the rest of the season (unless he is involved in a trade for David Price in Tampa Bay as rumored, but more on that tomorrow).
Injuries to our position players and bullpen arms have also deluded the roles of our relief core to the point of obscurity. We still don’t know when Jonny Venters will return, or if he will ever pitch again. He was slated for a April return. Nope. Ok, how about May? Still, nope. June Possibly? Pass. Currently, according to the injury updates page on Braves.com, Venters is slated for a July return – I have zero hopes for this. Best case scenario is that Venters will be able to start another rehab assignment in either Rome or Lynchburg by the end of the month. However, July is really late to begin rehab, especially for a player who has been out of action for almost 2 years now. A July rehab assignment will give the Braves no real indication on whether pushing the envelope with his health before the conclusion of the season will even be worth their time. If I had to make my best educated guess, I would look to see Venters back in the bullpen sometime around May of next season. Don’t quote me.
The injuries to Beato, Carpenter, Gearrin, Walden, and Butchter have made the lives of Gonzales and Wren even more complicated. Jaime, Schlosser, and Thomas have been juggled around all year – I’m fairly certain they’ve spent more time this season commuting between Atlanta and Gwinnett than they have on the rubber. And, is David Hale a starter? Or is he a middle reliever? Or is he both? Beats me. At least he has performed well in both spots.
The only real spot in this entire staff that I can be sure of is our Ace, who undoubtedly goes to Julio Teheran. While he doesn’t yet have a keen ability to call his own game or a history of postseason dominance (0-1 in one appearance), he is clearly the number one starter on this staff as of now. He has the 5th best WHIP in all of baseball at 0.95, and controls the base paths with one of the best pickoff moves in the game. After tonight’s performance, he now has the 5th best ERA in baseball at 2.29. Against NL East opponents, he carries a 1.79 ERA, a 0.77 WHIP with 54 Ks and only 14 BB.
Below are my current rankings of the pitchers on our 25 man roster plus those who have been on the roster at some point this season, separated by role. These are really subjective and are mainly based on performance. I have also listed all of our injured pitchers in no particular order:
Starters:
- Julio Teheran
- David Hale
- Arron Harang
- Alex Wood
- Ervin Santana
- Mike Minor
Bullpen:
- Craig Kimbrel
- Shae Simmons
- David Hale
- Alex Wood
- Anthony Varvaro
- Luis Avilan
- Jordan Walden
- David Carpenter
- Ryan Butchter
- Pedro Beato
- Juan Jaime
- Gus Schlosser
- Ian Thomas
Injuries:
- Kris Medlen (Out for Season)
- Brandon Beachy (Out for Season)
- Gavin Floyd (Out for Season, in danger of release)
- Jonny Venters (???)
- Cory Gearrin (Out for Season, in danger of release)
- Lucus Sims (AAA Gwinnett and A Rome, headed for Tommy John Surgery – relevant as an active piece in trade talks)
The Launching Pad 