if gohara turns in a few 4+ WAR seasons i will be extremely happy.
6+ WAR makes him a top-5 pitcher in the game.
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jpx7 (02-20-2018)
More reasonable projections have Gohara and Wright as 3-4 win guys, and Soroka as a 2-3 win guy. Then the Braves hope they get another 2-3 win guy out of the rest of the good arms they have in the system. Add a ~2 win SP via FA on a 1-2 year deal, and they should be able to build a ~15 win rotation without spending huge dollars on pitching.
The rebuild has always centered around producing 3-4 SPs that total 10-12 WAR. Until that happens, the Braves will not be a playoff contender. If that doesn't happen, the Braves will not be a playoff contender until they blow it up and rebuild again. They bet big on developing their own pitching, and if that doesn't happen they don't have the money to build a strong enough rotation AND fill holes in the lineup.
Last edited by Enscheff; 02-20-2018 at 12:10 PM.
jpx7 (02-20-2018)
The Braves have done a pretty terrible job developing MLB SPs since...a long time.
There was a point late in 2017 when Gohara had no business taking the mound. His velocity trended down in every start, and it was alarmingly low in his 9/24 start:
https://www.fangraphs.com/pitchfxo.a...tch=FA&data=pi
That graph doesn't show that his velocity rebounded to 97.8 in his 9/29 start, but it is worrisome nonetheless.
I screamed about it in the 9/24 game thread, but Gohara had no business pitching those last 2-3 starts.
Bumping him from 69 IP in 2016 to 153 IP in 2017 was recklessly stupid. It was a foolish risk to take with the ONLY arm that has shown true TOR promise during this entire rebuild.
Last edited by Enscheff; 02-20-2018 at 11:57 AM.
Last edited by Enscheff; 02-20-2018 at 12:19 PM.
Looks like Rio Ruiz is going to get some games in left during spring training. Good idea. He could get some at bats there during the regular season in the weeks before Acuna gets called up.
"I am a victim, I will tell you. I am a victim."
"I am your retribution."
jpx7 (02-21-2018)
jpx7 (02-21-2018)
The plan seems to be to get him games at first, third and left this spring. I've always liked the idea of having someone on the bench with some left-handed power. He did hit 20 home runs last year between AAA and the majors.
Preston Tucker is another guy who could give us some left-handed power off the bench.
I like the pieces that AA assembled for the bench. Suzuki and Culberson will have 2 spots. Then we have 2 or 3 remaining spots. Adams will probably play left initially against lefties. But you also have Ruiz, Tucker and Santana in the mix. Santana is on a minor league deal and Tucker and Ruiz have options left.
Last edited by nsacpi; 02-21-2018 at 11:22 AM.
"I am a victim, I will tell you. I am a victim."
"I am your retribution."
thethe (02-21-2018)
jpx7 (02-21-2018)
guys like Ruiz and Tucker are not going to be stars obviously...but they could be useful guys to have on a major league bench...a few years ago we relied on lot on guys like Pedro Ciriaco and Eury Perez for pinch hitting duty...i'd rather have someone with a little pop like Ruiz and Tucker
"I am a victim, I will tell you. I am a victim."
"I am your retribution."
jpx7 (02-21-2018)