Braves starters look forward to recovering from injury

admin | February 20, 2024 | Other Clubs | No Comments

The Atlanta Braves may add two members to their rotation who missed 2023 due to injury.

The Atlanta Braves struggled with injuries last season.

Their rotation was particularly heavily struck, with 453.2 innings from 2022 – the quartet of Max Fried, Kyle Wright, Ian Anderson, and Huascar Ynoa – reduced to only 108.2, the majority of which came from Fried.

Atlanta will welcome back Huascar Ynoa and Ian Anderson after Tommy John surgery in 2024, indicating a positive outlook.

Ynoa’s in camp and healthy

Ynoa, 25, is the first to return; he had surgery in September 2022 and is approaching the conclusion of the standard 12-to-18-month schedule for pitchers to return to game activity.

He appears to be the forgotten man in the starting pitching fight, with the #5 slot in the rotation being contested by the returning Bryce Elder, free agent addition Reynaldo López, and top prospects AJ Smith-Shawver and Hurston Waldrep.

However, Ynoa is healthy and determined to be a better player and person than he was when Atlanta fans last saw him.

Most fans’ final memory of Ynoa is probably one he’d like to forget: striking a bullpen bench in fury on a May Sunday in Milwaukee after a bad outing in which he allowed five runs on nine hits in 4.1 innings.

Ynoa, who had a 4-1 record and a 2.23 ERA at the time, missed three months with the injury and didn’t seem the same down the stretch of the 2021 season, pitching to an ERA of over five and finishing 0-4 in 10 appearances. Ynoa was left off the postseason roster, and Atlanta went on to win the World Series.

Ynoa was then optioned to AAA Gwinnett after only two starts in 2022, where he struggled all season (5.68 ERA) before undergoing Tommy John surgery following the season.

He revealed to Justin Toscano of the AJC that he has worked on himself physically and emotionally since then. “I think there’s some things, even off the field, that I was taking too personally, whether it be a comment or something,” he stated. “And just learning how to deal with that.”

However, Ynoa is said to be stronger, more confident, and more capable of handling situations. He appeared to be in good form this spring, according to Braves manager Brian Snitker, who confirmed this following a recent bullpen session.

“He looks great, I know,” Snitker told reporters after watching Ynoa pitch a bullpen last week.

The question is if his stuff performs better in Grapefruit League action. In 2022, Ynoa mostly relied on two pitches: his 85-mph slider and 97-mph fastball, with only a 6% usage of his changeup.

Yes, Spencer Strider primarily uses the same pitch mix, but Strider’s individual pitches rank among the greatest in baseball in terms of both’stuff’ and output.

Ynoa mentioned it at his media availability, which was conducted in English, revealing that he was focusing on bringing his slider back to where it was before surgery, as well as developing his changeup.

Despite his expectation that he’d be stretched out and ready to start by the end of spring. Atlanta could start Ynoa on the injured list/rehab, in the minors, or in the bullpen to begin the season, as he still has a minor league option year.

Ian Anderson due back around midseason

Anderson, who had surgery in April of last season, had a slightly longer timeline to return to game action, aiming for a “midseason” comeback.

The righty, who memorably was five innings into a World Series no-hitter when he was pulled after 76 pitches on a rainy and cold Atlanta night, worked hard on his fundamentals after surgery.

“When I wasn’t able to throw directly after surgery, I worked hard on my mechanics. “Now that I’m back throwing, everything feels good,” Anderson said during a media appearance from the team’s facility in North Port, Florida. He also said that he reduced his arm slot slightly after a period of tremendous over-the-top delivery.

Anderson’s growth during his minor league rehab stints will also be intriguing to watch; while his arsenal is not as limited as Ynoa’s, with three pitches utilized at least 10% of the time, Anderson has less pure velocity and a less perfect pitch mix.

Anderson is predominantly a fastball/changeup pitcher, using his 94-mph fastball nearly half of the time (48%) and supplementing it with an 88-mph changeup (33% usage) and a low-80s curveball.

Anderson’s objective has more groundouts and weak contact than strikeouts, with a groundball percentage of approximately 50% and a hard hit rate that is roughly league average.

However, the curveball is not a highly productive pitch, with a combined -5 run value (per Baseball Savant) in 2021 and 2022.

However, if Anderson is effective and ready to go after the summer, it might have the same impact as Atlanta getting a starting pitcher at the trade deadline, one with big-game experience and a desire to return to the mound and dominate hitters once more.

“It’s definitely been a long process” Anderson said of the attempt to return, but it’s been beneficial to him. “I’ve learned a lot about myself and I feel like I’ve been able to hone what I’m doing more.”