Throughout the years, the Atlanta Braves have consistently been able to lean on a strong pitching staff. This year, at least to start, has been one to forget. Each of the four established starters has flashed at least one positive start, but even Max Fried, the ace of the staff, has had games in which he's struggled.
The Batter Up podcast discussed the rough start of the staff, why it's not time to fret, but most importantly that Kyle Wright may have finally begun to realize his potential.
It is safe to assume that Fried will continue to do Fried things, and that Morton will be the steady vet that the staff needs, but the two young guns have the most attention. One with his stock seeming to improve, the other not so much.
That confidence level has "completely swapped with (Ian Anderson) and Kyle Wright." Caleb said, "Every time Kyle goes out there, I have no concern."
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While it is certainly early in the season - he has only faced 66 batters, Kyle Wright seems to have made a serious improvement. The promise was always there, but it just never seemed to come completely together. In fact, it wasn't too long ago that his name was pushed by fans as someone to get traded.
That sudden turnaround comes down to one thing, confidence.
"It really does seem like he has turned a corner and he's just in a completely different headspace," Joe Patrick said.
Through his first few weeks of the season, an argument could be made that he has been the best, if not at least the most consistent, starters on the entire rotation. He boasts a 1.06 ERA, 26 strikeouts (8th in the Majors with one fewer start than those ahead of him), two walks, and a mere 11 hits. All of those categories lead the staff by a considerable margin.
Anderson on the other hand has seen his share of struggles in the early weeks. To this point, he hasn't made it out of the fifth inning and had one outing that ended in the second inning. He has nearly allowed a full run per inning pitched. That just can't continue.
This is not the time for an overreaction, in either direction, as this is the way of Major League Baseball. Natural ebbs and flows are to be expected, especially from these two still very young pitchers. That said, there seems to be a growing sense of confidence surrounding the play of Kyle Wright, and that in and of itself is something to be excited about.