The trade of Lucas Harrell and the demotion of Matt Wisler has left the Atlanta Braves with a couple of vacancies in their starting rotation. Julio Teheran will get the start on Saturday but the team has not yet announced who will take the ball on Sunday.
The AJC’s David O’Brien reports that Casey Kelly appears to be the likely option to make Sunday’s start. Kelly pitched in Buffalo for Gwinnett last Sunday and is scheduled to start on Saturday but could be scratched and brought back to the majors. Kelly has gone 3-5 with a 3.58 ERA in 14 appearances at Triple-A. He is 0-3 with a 5.82 ERA in 10 appearances with the Braves this season.
John Gant began a rehab assignment earlier this week and is expected to make at least two more before being ready to be activated from the disabled list. Williams Perez continues to recover from a strained rotator-cuff but has not yet been cleared to resume throwing from a mound.
Aaron Blair could be an option to take Wisler’s spot in the rotation. Blair allowed five hits and no earned runs over six innings in his last start at Indianapolis on Wednesday. That takes him out of the running for Sunday’s start but he could be brought back next week.
Blair has pitched better of late allowing just two earned runs over his last 13 innings but has struggled at times since being sent back to Gwinnett. The Braves may want to leave him in the minors a bit longer with the hope that he can string together several more good starts before bringing him back to the majors.