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The list of Atlanta Braves starting pitcher troubles grew substantially in the last few weeks before the MLB trade deadline. Paul Maholm struggled for several starts and then went down with a wrist injury. Kris Medlen also struggled and around that time staff ace Tim Hudson went down with a season-ending broken ankle. Talk about a bad few weeks or days. Since Hudson went down however the starting staff has done a little work towards showing things will be okay. I think the final piece of the puzzle is Medlen as he needs to prove he can stick around the rotation.
After all the trade deadline was still several days away when all of this was going on. The Braves were interested in a few starters that were on the market and certainly have the farm system to make a move. Manager Fredi Gonzalez was in record saying he felt good about the staff he had which included returning Brandon Beachey and debuting Alex Wood. It seemed GM Frank Wren disagreed possibly but not enough to make a trade for a starter.
So was it a mistake not to bring in a starter? It’s still too early to really know but the early returns suggest that the Braves will be just fine. Medlen is a crucial part of it however. The way he pitched down the stretch last season was crazy and expecting the same this year was unreasonable for anyone. He doesn’t have to pitch that well to be good enough to solidify the rotation however. He only needs to be steady and not give up a ton of runs.
Beachey will take a couple of starts to get his groove and Wood probably will take a few starts to really get into his first MLB grove. If Mike Minor, Julio Teheran and Medlen can hold the staff together while the other two work out the kinks, they will look superb without the slightest hint of a trade or deal.
If Medlen continues to struggle for the most part there is still the looming return of Maholm. If that doesn’t seem to work the Braves have never been scared of an August waiver deal to fill a need. We’ll have to wait and see but right now I think Medlen is going to answer the call as well as Minor and Teheran have.
David Miller is a Senior Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @davidmillerrant, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google Plus.
