Brian Snitker announced Sunday that the Atlanta Braves will promote Kyle Wright to make Tuesday’s start against the Miami Marlins. Wright began the year in the rotation but struggled through four starts posting a 7.20 ERA and a 6.48 FIP in 15 innings. Robbie Erlin was another candidate to start Tuesday’s game, but he replaced Ian Anderson in the fourth inning of Sunday’s game and threw three innings.
“We were going to wait and see how this thing played out,” Snitker said. “He was definitely a possibility, but if the wheels fell off early, he was the guy that we were going to use. So, if we didn’t need him and Ian went six or seven innings then Erlin would have been a definite possibility for tomorrow.
However, Wright had shown flashes and Alex Anthopoulos told reporters at the trade deadline that Wright had pitched better at the alternate site and would get another opportunity at some point. That opportunity will come on Tuesday and he will have another chance to solidify his spot in the team’s rotation.
Wright showed flashes through during his first stint but struggled with his command and control particularly the second time through the order. He has walked 16 hitters in just 15 innings while allowing 17 hits and 12 runs. His last start also came against the Marlins where he allowed two hits and three runs in just three innings while also pitching around six walks.
Cole Hamels/Ozzie Albies updates
Cole Hamels faced live batters for the first time over the weekend and came out feeling good. This is probably as close has he has been to being ready to return to the active roster. Hamels is slated to through another live BP in a couple of days and Snitker acknowledged that once he is ready to start building innings, that he might do so in regular season games even if it is for 2-3 inning stints.
Ozzie Albies is also progressing and faced Hamels in the live BP session. The plan right now is for Albies to play in an intrasquad game Tuesday where he will get a bunch of at-bats and then be reevaluated. It certainly feels as though he could possibly be activated at some point this week.