Most of the time when a pitcher has damage to their UCL they will require Tommy John surgery or some type of procedure. If Spencer Strider, who suffered some UCL damage in his start against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday, has to have Tommy John or some type of procedure will the Braves sign a free-agent pitcher or possibly even trade for one? Atlanta Braves beat writer for The Athletic, David O’Brien discussed it with The Morning Shift.
“No, I mean that’s why they have all this depth," O'Brien said. "Everybody immediately goes, 'you know they’re going to go out on the market' like there’s great pitchers available in the market in April. There’s not.
"Nobody is getting rid of their best pitchers, and that’s what it would take. You wouldn’t go out and get a pitcher unless he was clearly better than what you’ve got waiting, and they had guys competing for the fifth spot.”
O'Brien went on to talk about how bringing in a “marginal or OK” pitcher would only block the opportunity of seeing the potential of guys like AJ Smith-Shawver, Bryce Elder, Hurston Waldrep, Ian Anderson, and Huascar Ynoa. O’Brien says only “average” pitchers are available in April, and it would be “asinine” for the Braves to just go out and get an average pitcher.
"And don’t even mention Trevor Bauer," O'Brien said. "I don’t want to talk about Trevor Bauer.” Half joking of course, O’Brien explained why he thinks there’s “zero chance” the Braves sign Bauer.
“The Braves place vetting players ahead of almost any other team I know of, character, clubhouse, all of that No. 1 priority for the Braves, well in addition to talent obviously," O'Brien said. "They talk about it all the time, clubhouse chemistry and how much vetting they do about players, their background, their clubhouse reputation. You’re telling me when they vet Trevor Bauer they’re gonna go, 'you know what, everybody says get this guy he’s great in the clubhouse, he’s the teammate they want.' No.”
O’Brien said Bauer carries a lot of “baggage” and that isn’t the type of player the Braves are interested in bringing in. On top of the fact that again the Braves have a lot of good options in house to help stabilize the rotation during Strider’s absence, that’s why there’s “zero chance” the Braves sign or trade anybody even if Strider is out for the rest of the season. And that includes Trevor Bauer.