The Braves are on a bit of a run right now, winning 7 of the last 9 and it has been a bit of fun, despite it being almost certainly too little, too late for the playoffs. They also have a few fun pitching stories at the moment. Hurston Waldrep is one of them and he just stacked his third straight solid outing and his best yet on Friday night.
Joey Wentz is another, as he is a former top Braves prospect who was traded and has bounced around as a fringe MLB pitcher, but has now found some success back
in Atlanta. Wentz starts today’s game and he has been pretty good for Atlanta over 28.2 innings now. The big 27 year old lefty has a sub-par 8.16 K/9 but a strong 3.14 BB/9, good for a 2.79 FIP and a 3.92 xFIP and 0.7 fWAR in those 28.2 innings in Atlanta. While that’s still a pretty small sample, it’s the most encouraging stretch of pitching Joey has had at the major league level. The Braves have had him emphasize his cutter and use his elite extension with solid velocity from a high release point on the left side. While he isn’t likely to hit the upside that some thought he had as a prospect, he’s pitching like a real major league starter right now and he still has a bunch of team control, so he could be a depth piece in the rotation or the bullpen in what would be a cool full-circle story.
On the other side, the Guardians are starting Slade Cecconi. Cecconi was once a high draft pick for the Diamondbacks, but has been a roughly replacement level pitcher in his 189.1 innings over 3 seasons in MLB. He’s been pretty bad at striking hitters out, but he’s done well to limit walks, which has been his lifeline in the majors. He has a five pitch mix from the right side, leaning on his mid-90s four-seamer, with a slow slider and curve as secondaries and a sinker and changeup he uses to mix things up. The Braves’ offense has been solid lately and Cecconi seems like a pitcher that they can continue that success against.
This is another winnable game for the Braves in what is almost certainly a lost season.
Game Info
Game Date/Time: Saturday, August 16, 7:10 p.m. EDT
Location: Progressive Field, Cleveland, OH
TV: FanDuel Sports South / Southeast, MLB Network (out-of-market only)
Radio: 680 AM / 93.7 FM The Fan
