Between games of today’s double-header, the Braves announced that right-hander Kyle Wright has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list. In corresponding moves, left-hander Dylan Lee was optioned to Triple-A Gwinnett while righty Daysbel Hernández was transferred to the 60-day IL.
Wright, now 27, had a huge breakout last year. He posted an earned run average of 3.19 over 30 starts for Atlanta, along with a 23.6% strikeout rate, 7.2% walk rate and 55.6% ground ball rate. Unfortunately, he hasn’t been able to build on that here in 2023. He made five starts with a 5.79 ERA before a shoulder strain sent him to the injured list, only returning today after missing about four months.
Now that he’s back, he will look to get back into good form and hopefully strengthen an Atlanta club that is already in a great spot. Their 94-49 record is the best in baseball, having already clinched them a playoff spot. They are 16 games up on the Phillies in the division, 6.5 on the Dodgers for the league lead and 3.5 over the Orioles for best in the majors. They’ve done all that while missing Wright and Max Fried for much of the year, though both are now healthy and in the rotation alongside Spencer Strider, Charlie Morton and Bryce Elder. On a personal level, Wright will qualify for arbitration for the first time this winter and a strong finish will help him in that regard.
As for Hernández, he was placed on the injured list August 1 due to right forearm inflammation. He’ll now be officially ineligible to return until 60 days from that initial IL placement, which effectively ends his regular season. He could theoretically join the club in the postseason but would have to both get healthy and seem like a better option than someone currently on the roster. He posted a 7.36 ERA in four outings this year and missed all of 2022 after undergoing Tommy John surgery in February of last year. He has struck out 30.3% of batters faced in the minors but has also walked 12.2%.
If Wright is even a fraction of what he was in 2022, the Braves just got another pitcher to help in the playoffs.
The Wright Stuff
Just not in the first inning
Hopefully, that’s out of the way now and he gets back to form.
The rich get richer?
It’s an embarrassment of riches for the Braves. They’re going to be a beast of a team to face in the playoffs.
The fact that they dominated baseball all year without their top 2 starters in Fried and wright from last year is telling. They get those 2 guys dominating again for October watch out
The price is Wright.
I think it’s interesting calling these players up to make rehab starts at the big league level. Don’t know that I agree with it. I think they are taking a gamble to see if he can come back quicker and help them. They called Allard up like this and eventually he got hurt. Who knows if that was a factor tho. It seems unlikely Wright will be a factor this postseason imo. I think they need to keep him healthy. Fried only has one more year of control and they need Wright in the future. That said as long as he can avoid major injury he would have the off-season ahead of him if he gets hurt.
If he could get hurt in an MLB game he could get hurt in a MiLB game…when you are 15 games up you have the luxury of giving guys rehab starts in the majors. I don’t see the difference
The difference is adrenaline and the urge to perform well. Minor league rehab starts do not matter. It doesn’t matter if you give up 8 runs in 2 innings. There may be no real difference but the experience is perceived as different. This is the first time fans and other teams have seen Wright in months and a bad performance looks worse than it would in the minors. Not to mention that even tho he isn’t expected to go long he is surely expected to go at least a few innings. In the minors all that matters is getting the pitches in. He’s also more likely to throw a different pitch mix than he would to minor leaguers. He’s out to prove himself instead of just getting his work in. Many differences. Mainly adrenaline.