Following yet another depressing loss in Petco Park for the Atlanta Braves, some changes have been made and there’s some good news as far as the bullpen is concerned. Tyler Kinley is back healthy after dealing with “right elbow inflammation” and has been reinstated from the 15-day IL as a result.
This is very big news and not just because of the fact that Kinley had been turning things around before his IL stint after a rough first on the mound. Ever since May 13, Kinley had produced a 2.45 ERA (59 ERA-) and a 3.56 FIP (87 FIP-) across the 12 appearances he made leading up to his IL stint. Getting Kinley back will be huge since the bullpen was starting to show some signs of wear. Due to Robert Suarez’s forearm issues, Carlos Carrasco ended up pitching two high-leverage innings and to be quite honest, that’s just not an ideal situation for the Braves in this particular moment in time. So yeah, getting Kinley back will be massive for a bullpen that has largely kept it pushing despite dealing with whatever woes may come their way.
Speaking of Carrasco, he’s going back on the DFA cycle following last night’s performance and he’s been subsequently replaced by Ian Hamilton. So far, Hamilton has pitched one inning for the Braves and it was back on April 21 when he gave up three runs on two hits and two walks, so I’d imagine that you can guess that the Braves are doing this simply to have another arm available until Cookie does his latest circuit on the DFA cycle and they can bring him back again.
Meanwhile, the corresponding move for Tyler Kinley was that JR Ritchie was sent back down to Triple-A Gwinnett following his efforts on Tuesday in San Diego. As admirably as Ritchie performed in getting through five innings in each of his past three starts, giving up five runs each to the Giants and Padres is certainly not conducive to success — especially in a situation where the Braves are badly in need of consistent and stable starting pitching. Ritchie did end up with seven strikeouts on the night but he also walked four and gave up five hits on his way to giving up those five runs (four earned) and it also came as a bit of a gut punch since it happened all in the frame immediately after Atlanta had score four runs, themselves.
So while Ritchie has shown some promise during his time with the Braves so far this season, it’s clear that he’s going to need a bit more work in the minors before this the big leagues becomes his permanent home station. For now, the Braves do get one of their more effective relievers back from the injury list so that’s one less thing to worry about for the time being. It’s one thing but it’s a big thing.
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