With Chris Sale still on the mend from his fractured rib cage, and Reynaldo López and AJ Smith-Shawver out for the season the Atlanta Braves desperately need more starting pitching right now, but with there being no quality starters on the open market and no teams that have quality starting pitching ready to sell yet by the time the Braves can get another starting pitcher it could be too late depending on where Atlanta is in the NL East and Wild Card standings.
Our very own Braves insider and reporter Grant McAuley talked about Atlanta’s limited starting pitching options earlier today on The Morning Shift.
“Well I certainly think that they need to make a move because losing Chris Sale that’s going to be a difficult road for the Braves for however long that he is out, and I think that if they had other options we would have seen other options, but this was one of those you roll the dice on talent, you give talent the opportunity to step up and fill this role for the time being, but I do think that it’s not a settled situation for the Braves as far as their rotation is concerned, so if they can make a move right now I think that they would, but I think we’re still several weeks away from clubs really deciding that they’re gonna make the best players available for them…” Grant said
Grant finished by saying “As I’ve kind of looked at this situation and thought about it from all the different angles maybe this is the most critical time for the Braves and by the time you can make a move in three or four weeks things could look very different this season and the standings could look very different and making a move at that point might not be as impactful as right now, but it kind of does go back to if Alex Anthopoulos could make a move right now I think he would and I think he’s probably working on it.”
Until Chris Sale does come back and until a move can be made by the Braves they just have to find a way to at least hold their ground in the division and more importantly n the Wild Card standings, and the Braves have to capitalize on every good start they’re getting right now too because if they don’t like Grant alluded to there will be no point in the Braves making any moves to get better if they’re too far behind to catch up.