Braves Name Brandon Beachy Their Fifth Starter

by gondeee on Mar 24, 2011 11:03 AM EDT

Bill Shanks has the scoop from Disney on the battle for the Atlanta Braves fifth starter job:

Brandon Beachy will be the 5th starter. Mike Minor has been optioned down to AAA Gwinnett. He is here on the back fields now working out.

Seems like the right move to me. This has been rumored for a few days now, you can read more here.

Tweet Comment 52 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

Congratulations to Beachy! And Minor for our backup starter is pretty darn good.

"Tony Gwynn made sacrifices. Cal Ripken made sacrifices. I'm not sure Derek Jeter made sacrifices given the ungodly deep pockets the Yankees have." - Chipper Jones

by MBL1 on Mar 24, 2011 11:08 AM EDT via mobile reply actions

Agree.

Congrats, Beachy.

I am bi-winning. I win not only here but also there.

by Jman781 on Mar 24, 2011 11:16 AM EDT up reply actions

A little surprising, but either move is a good one. As long as it wasn’t Lopez or KK

by Taylor Masters on Mar 24, 2011 11:11 AM EDT reply actions

That's a pretty impressive leap

The first time I ~~saw him~~ heard of Beachy was when I took a photo of him (published on this site) at the 2010 AA All-Star game (and threw one dominant inning, BTW). One week later he was in Gwinnett. Two months later he was in Atlanta.

Now he’s staying in Atlanta. Way to go, kid!

Fangraphs, on Craig Kimbrel: "His strikeout rates look like they’re coming from a video game"

by carpengui on Mar 24, 2011 11:17 AM EDT reply actions

Move makes sense

Beachy seems to have ‘figured it out’ and his command/control of his stuff is very major league ready. He may not have the upside and left handedness of Minor but of the two he is the most ready for MLB innings and Minor would benifit most from MiLB time to work on his offspeed stuff and command/control.

However I think its important to note tha Beachy threw only 134 total innings last year which was a 58 inning jump from 76 innings in 2009. I wouldn’t feel very comfortable with him going too far past 165 inning this year for fear of injury and 165 innings is a bit on the low end for fifth starter innings. We may have to prepare someone to take some starts at the end of the season from Beachy and move him to the pen.

Jason Heyward wins at baseball.

by bbxxj on Mar 24, 2011 11:24 AM EDT reply actions

Someone like Mike Minor perhaps?

by michaelcooksey on Mar 24, 2011 11:33 AM EDT up reply actions

Yeah luckily

we have the arms to do such a thing!

by TCfromDubVee on Mar 24, 2011 11:35 AM EDT up reply actions

Yeah

We can only hope we find somebody able to pitch in MLB late this year!

"It's like winning a war...you need arms and money." Fredi G

by bighop on Mar 24, 2011 11:36 AM EDT up reply actions

We got someone for that coming back around August time.

by Broccoman on Mar 24, 2011 2:18 PM EDT up reply actions

I'm a big Minor fan

But this move makes sense to me. Minor has the potential to be outstanding if he fine tunes his command and his curveball. He’ll be able to work on those things much more easily in AAA. If we can get Minor to come close to his ceiling, our rotation will be that much better off in the future while Beachy is probably close to his ceiling right now.

by ajones2522 on Mar 24, 2011 11:38 AM EDT reply actions

I’m not convinced anybody knows what Beachy’s ceiling is. I’m glad he’ll get this shot at showing what he can do. Minor is going to be a solid pitcher for a while I think, I’m glad we don’t have to rush him.

"It's like winning a war...you need arms and money." Fredi G

by bighop on Mar 24, 2011 11:41 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs

This

Let’s see what the kid can do before we condemn him to mediocrity.

"…the umps in San Francisco somehow missed Brooks Conrad’s tag at second base on a sliding Buster Posey, who could’ve been called out from a houseboat in Sausalito."
-- Tommy Craggs

by duwanis on Mar 24, 2011 11:52 AM EDT up reply actions

His pitching reminds me a lot of that guy Greg Maddux, he seemed to have a decent career.

If we can land [Stephen Drew], I will give FW a bj.
~justincredubil02

by king of games on Mar 24, 2011 11:54 AM EDT up reply actions

Meh

He was alright. He didn’t really have any plus pitches, though. Kind of an average guy, really.

"…the umps in San Francisco somehow missed Brooks Conrad’s tag at second base on a sliding Buster Posey, who could’ve been called out from a houseboat in Sausalito."
-- Tommy Craggs

by duwanis on Mar 24, 2011 12:17 PM EDT up reply actions

Made a passable commercial too.

"Give him the heater Ricky."

by Pavy848 on Mar 24, 2011 2:24 PM EDT up reply actions

Have you guys seen Mark?

by kreese555 on Mar 24, 2011 9:17 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions

Fresh arm...

Reading up on Beachy, he threw just a couple dozen innings in HS, maybe 60 in college, and just 225 in the minors, plus 15 at the MLB level. I agree, what is his ceiling? What if this guy picks up a 4th pitch. I heard he was working on a cutter/slider. What if he can spot 92, mix in a good cutter/slider, continue his fluttering change up, and utilize his hammer? Wow. This guys could be VERY good.

Here is a quote that makes me wonder how high Beachy’s ceiling is…“He has front of the roataion stuff!” – Brian McCann. I think B-Mac knows a few things about pitchers.

Congrats to Beachy…a continued great story that is going to turn from a feel-good story to a good career.

by Braves12 on Mar 24, 2011 7:00 PM EDT up reply actions

I honestly think his ceiling is Greg Maddux. He has a similar mental approach to the game, and the same pinpoint control.

If we can land [Stephen Drew], I will give FW a bj.
~justincredubil02

by king of games on Mar 25, 2011 10:57 AM EDT up reply actions

Come on man. Nobody’s ceiling is Greg Maddux.

by gilley on Mar 25, 2011 1:31 PM EDT up reply actions

Exactly. Let’s not compare every single right hander with decent control to Greg Maddux just like all soft-tossing lefties get compared to Tom Glavine when people say their upside is limited. It’s not realistic to think anyone is going to develop on the same path as Greg Maddux or Tom Glavine.

by ajones2522 on Mar 25, 2011 5:15 PM EDT up reply actions

one can hope

by willlinn on Mar 25, 2011 11:14 PM EDT up reply actions

Love Beachy.

Hope he does very well this year, seems like a really good guy.

If we can land [Stephen Drew], I will give FW a bj.
~justincredubil02

by king of games on Mar 24, 2011 11:41 AM EDT reply actions

Still think it's posturing...

They can delay Minor’s service time from hitting a year by keeping him out until mid-June. I figure they’ll make a decision at a later time, probably near mid-season. The possible outcomes: a) Beachy’s good enough to continue…giving him a full year of service time, b) Beachy doesn’t have the endurance to finish the season…Minor comes up, Beachy comes down – both accrue less than a year of service time to delay their arb clock, or c) Beachy struggles, Minor comes up when needed.

Of the choices, B is the most advantageous from a future perspective. Guess we’ll just have to see how it plays out.

-C

It’s rough to sit through these games and not have someone that can’t hit a Ball?

by cthabeerman on Mar 24, 2011 12:03 PM EDT reply actions

What a great story.

If every Braves fan isn’t rooting their hearts out for this guy, its a crying shame.

by thenightstallion on Mar 24, 2011 12:04 PM EDT reply actions

I’m high on Beachy. Congrats dude, your hard work has paid off. I wish you the best of success.

I wish Minor success too.

by Sparhawk on Mar 24, 2011 12:05 PM EDT reply actions

Most seasons (2010 for instance) you end up using several people as the 5th starter, so it’s not really a big deal who begins the season in that role. I’m just happy it isn’t the likes of Jojo Reyes or Charlie Morton this year.

by redwards95 on Mar 24, 2011 12:06 PM EDT reply actions

I don’t miss JoJo at all.

"Give him the heater Ricky."

by Pavy848 on Mar 24, 2011 2:26 PM EDT up reply actions

Really?

I miss calling him JoJo the idiot circus boy…

by kreese555 on Mar 24, 2011 9:20 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions

This actually makes sense for Minor, too

He was gassed at the end of last year and his velocity dropped off. In the minors we’ll be better able to monitor and limit the stress on his arm, and hopefully keep him more fresh in case we need him at the end of the year.

He definitely is going to need to work on building up his arm strength so that he isn’t losing 3-4 MPH toward the end of the year, but he’s young enough that we have time to work with him on that.

by Bronn on Mar 24, 2011 12:36 PM EDT reply actions

yea

I like the move, but I was pulling for Minor.

by Braves24 on Mar 24, 2011 1:40 PM EDT up reply actions

Congrats to Beachy

I know a lot of you are fans of his and I do like his story but I just think the Braves are making a mistake with a rotation full of right-handed finesse pitchers that all do the same thing. Thats why I can’t wait for some of our top young pitching prospects to take over. I’m just tired of watching the same 90-92 sinker low and away from every guy we throw out.

by Atlborn3 on Mar 24, 2011 12:48 PM EDT reply actions

Since when is Tommy Hanson a finesse pitcher?

It's even possible that Jim Tressel drinks out of the toilet

by jman07 on Mar 24, 2011 1:18 PM EDT up reply actions

Yeah Finesse pitchers suck...

I mean that guy Greg Maddux, he was awful…he just cannot be compared to the likes of Kyle Farnsworth or Blaine Boyer.

Frankly I do not care if the guy throws a 75mph fastball. If he has a low ERA and WHIP; and the Braves win, I could care less how hard he throws. If the entire rotation is made of low ERA / low WHIP / high win percentage pitchers it is perfectly fine with me if they are all finesse.

The Braves line-up matches up with anybody in the league, and I am more than fine with that.

by Santaklose11 on Mar 24, 2011 1:49 PM EDT up reply actions

ok..maybe that was too much..

but still I have no problem with the style of the pitchers in the rotation as long as we win. Regardless, I do not think our rotation is overly finesse I think it could be categorized generally as follows

1. Hudson – Groundball pitcher
2. Lowe – Groundball pitcher
3. Hanson – Power pitcher
4. Jurrjens – Finesse / Flyball pitcher
5. Beachy – Finesse pitcher

by Santaklose11 on Mar 24, 2011 2:02 PM EDT up reply actions

Finesse?

Brandon Beachy is not a finesse pitcher. 148 Ks in 119 innings is not finesse. That is sending a lot of guys back to the bench and its also getting out of a lot of jams unscathed. And, he maintained a strikeout per inning ratio when he got called up and during spring training.

by jrhode on Mar 24, 2011 7:24 PM EDT up reply actions

Brandon Beachy is a finesse pitcher who willl have to rely on his command

He won’t be blowing hitters away at the big league level and I haven’t seen him throw harder than 93 and he touch that only a couple of times.

by Atlborn3 on Mar 25, 2011 1:05 AM EDT up reply actions

You act like starters that thow in the mid to upper 90s are all over the place. Most major league starters sit around 90-92 I would think.

If we can land [Stephen Drew], I will give FW a bj.
~justincredubil02

by king of games on Mar 25, 2011 10:55 AM EDT up reply actions

Do you even bother to watch baseball?

It's even possible that Jim Tressel drinks out of the toilet

by jman07 on Mar 25, 2011 5:52 PM EDT up reply actions

He is finesse

While he does strike out people frequently, he does so with pitch placement and variety rather than speed. I call that finesse. Contrast his style to that of Ubaldo Jimenez. While you cannot compare their skill (at least from what I have seen) you can see that the methods they use to put hitters away differ greatly. Jimenez does so with extreme speed fluctuation, using a very high velocity fastball. Beachy does not have a comparatively high velocity fastball, so he uses pitch placement and variety to put hitters away (Greg Maddux did this on a much higher level).

by Santaklose11 on Mar 28, 2011 2:35 PM EDT up reply actions

He would be the closest to a power pitcher

but he doesn’t mantain his velocity from start to start too many times you see him 94-96 one game and 91-93 the next.

by Atlborn3 on Mar 24, 2011 1:39 PM EDT reply actions

Phillies Match Up

It should be interesting to see how the Phillies lefty-laden line up matches up against our 5 right handed starting pitchers.

by Belliard on Mar 24, 2011 1:55 PM EDT reply actions

It’ll be interesting to see how both react to facing each other after facing each other twice in Sept.

"Give him the heater Ricky."

by Pavy848 on Mar 24, 2011 2:29 PM EDT up reply actions

The Phillies actually hit left handed pitching better in 2010. The entire theory that a left handed starter is valuable because of the matchup against the Phillies’ lineup is false.

by gilley on Mar 24, 2011 2:56 PM EDT up reply actions

proof

http://www.thegoodphight.com/2011/3/23/2066455/the-phillies-hit-better-against-lefties-than-righties-in-2010-and

by gilley on Mar 24, 2011 2:57 PM EDT up reply actions

+1

I was going to post that

by Braves24 on Mar 24, 2011 3:37 PM EDT up reply actions

has my support!

think he came into st thinking he would win?

by willlinn on Mar 24, 2011 2:44 PM EDT reply actions

Congrats Beachy

I was pulling for both with maybe a slight edge to Minor only b.c. he was Lefthanded but this is a great problem to have to much pitching LOL. Now to just deal away KK and we can move on but that seems like a pipe dream at this point.

Congrats again .

by Holty_Panthers_Fan on Mar 24, 2011 4:12 PM EDT reply actions

Works for me.

So did Minor, of course, but Beachy should be just fine. And if he isn’t, Minor will be ready and waiting. And if he isn’t, we’ve got plenty of other young guys.

As long as we don’t have to use Rodrigo Lopez this year, we’ll be just fine.

"Yeah, and I have an enchanted jock strap." -- Karl Karlson

by Jacob Peterson on Mar 24, 2011 6:36 PM EDT reply actions

For all of you...

that think this is a mistake…I will take a mentally tough and focused right hander who has high character and guts over a high ceiling lefty that can only throw 2 pitches for a strike and got tired mentally and physically in 2010.

I’d take a consistent RH rotation every day of the week.

A strike is a strike, and in the right spot, it is an out…doesn’t matter if your are RH or LH!

by Braves12 on Mar 24, 2011 7:07 PM EDT reply actions

Nothing wrong with being exited to get a look at Beachy but the Minor bashing seems a little unnecessary. I don’t think they sent Minor down because he sucks. They are options 1A and 1B to me for our 5th starter. I love that Minor is going to be able to work on throwing his breaking ball for strikes but getting down on a young guy for getting tired in his first year of full season professional ball doesn’t make a ton of sense.

by ajones2522 on Mar 25, 2011 5:20 PM EDT up reply actions