The Braves are still sorting through the back end of their rotation, and with two weeks left, the fifth spot looks like the one place where Atlanta could make a late-season move.
AJ Smith-Shawver was in the bullpen over the weekend as the Braves played Philadelphia, which points to a possible shift after his rough stretch as a starter since returning from Tommy John surgery. Over one inning, his stuff still works. The numbers say as much: opponents are batting .111 with a .586 OPS against him in the first inning of his five starts this season.
Reynaldo Lopez is lined up to start tonight in the opener against the Chicago Cubs, but this may be his final crack at holding a rotation job if he doesn’t bounce back sharply from his last outing against the Tampa Bay Rays, when he gave up six earned runs in 4.2 innings.
Martin Perez is scheduled for Tuesday, and Wednesday’s starter has not been announced yet. Chris Sale would be available on normal rest, though Atlanta has generally preferred to give him extra time between starts as the season winds down. That could leave the door open for JR Ritchie, who has been coming on strong in Gwinnett.
Ritchie has allowed two runs or fewer in five of his last six starts, and he’s coming off six innings of one-run ball with nine strikeouts. The Braves may want one more look at him against big-league hitters before the season ends to see whether he could be part of the mix in October.
For all the shuffling, Atlanta does have four starters giving it real stability. Sale has been the second-best pitcher in baseball this season.
Perez has been outstanding, especially at home, where he has posted a 0.28 ERA over his last six starts, the best mark by a Braves starter since 1912. Tyler Mahle has been the acquisition of the entire trade deadline, and Grant Holmes has turned in five shutout outings over his last eight starts.
Even with all that, the fifth spot is still up for grabs, though that’s hardly unique this time of year across Major League Baseball.
In Other News...
Braves Quietly Added A New Arm And The Bullpen Implications Matter
The Braves picked up another arm just as the regular season enters its final stretch, claiming right-hander Michael Grove off waivers from the Rays while Tampa Bay was sorting through its own late-season roster moves. Grove gives Atlanta another live option to plug into the pitching mix, and any addition at this stage tends to carry extra weight for a bullpen that can always use more coverage as the calendar winds down.
The move also came against a backdrop of more shuffling elsewhere on the Rays' roster, with Tyler Wells landing on the 15-day injured list because of right forearm tightness and ending his regular season. Alex Cook was brought up from Triple-A Durham to take Wells' place, while Jake Fraley returned from the 60-day injured list and Kenny Piper was sent back to Triple-A, a reminder of how quickly September roster management can change the look of a pitching staff. [Read more 🡒]
Rays Move On From Pitcher Still Trying To Rebound From Surgery
The Braves added another arm to the organizational pile Monday, claiming right-hander Michael Grove off waivers from the Rays and sending him to Triple-A Gwinnett. It is the kind of depth move that can matter more than it looks on the surface for a club trying to survive a rash of rotation injuries, especially with a pitcher who has worked both as a starter and a reliever in the majors.
Grove had been designated for assignment by Tampa Bay before Atlanta stepped in, giving the Braves a low-cost way to keep a familiar major league option in the system. For now, he gives them some extra flexibility at Gwinnett while the bigger question remains how soon the big league staff can get healthier. [Read more 🡒]
Braves Deadline Pickup Is Suddenly Fueling A Serious MLB Debate
Tyler Mahle has become one of the more interesting pitching stories in the league since landing with Atlanta at the deadline. In seven starts with the Braves, he has turned in a 1.25 ERA, a stretch that has not only stabilized the rotation but also forced people to reexamine how the trade market looks in hindsight. When a pitcher arrives at a lower cost and immediately performs like this, it is hard not to compare the deal to the bigger names that changed uniforms around the same time.
Jeff Francoeur has already gone as far as calling Mahle the best pitcher to move midseason, and the argument has enough fuel to keep circulating. Tarik Skubal has been solid with the Dodgers over the same number of appearances, but Atlantas return has been the cleaner headline so far, especially considering what it took to get Mahle. Still, these evaluations are always fluid this time of year, and the final verdict may depend on how both pitchers finish the season. [Read more 🡒]