The Atlanta Braves (29-17) are in the middle of a 10-game home stand and are gearing up to play the Los Angeles Dodgers (29-19) in a pivotal three game series beginning Monday night at Truist Park.
The Braves picked up series victories over the Texas Rangers and Seattle Mariners over the past week, and are playing well despite dealing with several injuries to key members of the team, in particular to the starting rotation.
Number one starter, Max Fried is on the IL for the second time this season, and his stay this time around could be lengthy as he recovers from forearm soreness.
Kyle Wright, who led the Braves in wins and innings pitched in 2022 continues to fight a shoulder injury and has not pitched since early May.
Although the Braves keep finding ways to win games and series, it has been quite obvious by manager Brian Snitker’s decision to use bullpen arms to start games recently that the strain left by the missing starters is being felt.
So when Chris Thomas asked Braves AJC reporter Justin Toscano if the Braves should possibly consider trading a top prospect like Vaughn Grissom to help fill the pitching void, Justin was hesitant to agree.
“A lot of it depends on what you (Braves management) think internally of him” explained Justin to Chris when responded to the Grissom being traded for pitching question.
Justin continued to elaborate by saying, “Do they have the same confidence in him that he can be a long term shortstop?”
The one thing that both Chris and Justin agree upon is that the Braves are in a good place to be a championship contender for many years to come, but continuing to add quality pitching to the team is still a much needed requirement.
“We see it every October, starting pitching wins it” simply stated Justin to emphasize the importance of having a solid and healthy starting rotation.
To hear the entire conversation between Chris and Justin download the link above