Is Atlanta Braves James Hoyt next Impact Reliever?

By now, everyone knows the beloved story of Atlanta Braves own “White Bear”, El Oso Blanco, Evan Gattis…

…and the story will go down in Braves history as one of the greatest success stories in franchise history, no matter if Evan sticks for years with the Braves, or if he’s traded this offseason. And while it would be a difficult task to top a story such as Evan’s, there is another story out there that is pretty remarkable.

Atlanta Braves James Hoyt

A giant of a pitcher, James Hoyt comes in at a whopping 78 inches.  Huh?!  Ok, that doesn’t have the desired effect.  How about a reboot? James Hoyt comes in at a whopping 6 foot 6 inches. ***Readers Ooooo and Ahhhhh*** Much better.  We’ll get to the scouting report for James soon, but his story deserves telling first.

“Jimmy” is from the land of potatoes, Boise, Idaho. where he specialized in baseball and basketball. From there, he received a scholarship from Palomar Junior College out in San Diego, pitched a few years, then finished his collegiate career in the bayous of Louisiana at Centenary College. His time at Palomar was quite successful pitching both roles of starter and reliever. Centenary?  Not so much. 18.82 ERA through 9 games!  That’s not a typo, folks. He entered the MLB Draft the next year, and, not a big surprise, was looked over in all 40 rounds.

For a while, it seemed like baseball was put on the backburner for Hoyt as he moved back out to San Diego.  And while Evan’s job of choice during his baseball hiatus was operating a ski-lift in Colorado, Hoyt was also working in the recreational field, but on sailboats. He did that for a year until he got his first big, professional break. And that’s where the 9-fingered bandit, Jose Canseco, comes into play.

Canseco was coaching the Yuma Scorpions at the time and Hoyt was looking to revive his pitching career.  The Scorpions had a private workout for a plethora of “maybes” and Hoyt was one of the lucky ones that was drafted. He pitched 19 games, struck out a ton of players, but had some control issues.  He would have probably pitched again for Yuma the next year if the team wouldn’t have folded prior to the 2012 season. However, in 2012, Hoyt latched on to 2 other Independent League teams, and it was more of the same; dominating hitters, walking a few too many.  People finally started to take notice.

After the 2012 regular season, Hoyt was signed to pitch in the Mexican Leagues, of which translate roughly to Triple-A in talent level. Through 13 games, Hoyt, at that time a 26-year old, continued piling up the strikeouts and a Major League scout finally took notice.  The Atlanta Braves, doing what they do very well which is finding pitching talent in overlooked places, signed Hoyt in early 2013.

In the 2 years  that he’s been with the organization, for the most part Hoyt has pitched superbly, moving up the organizational ladder to the last rung before the big step.  While he had a hiccup at AAA in Gwinnett, his overall numbers tell a story: maintaining a high-K rate, lowering his walk rate.  Even factoring in his poor numbers at AAA, Hoyt had a 3.17 ERA over 2 levels, striking out 11.6/9 and walking 3.6/9.  That’s impressive.

The Scouting Report for Atlanta Braves James Hoyt

Mostly a two-pitch pitcher: Mid-90’s fastball that can reach the upper-90’s with lots of movement and a devastating slider that he uses as his out pitch. At 28 years old, his time in Atlanta may be now. Through 8 appearances in the Winter Leagues, Hoyt has a 1.23 ERA striking out 6.

With Craig Kimbrel and Shae Simmons looking to be the RH options for the Braves in late innings, and pitchers such as Anthony Varvaro and David Carpenter as earlier innings RH pitchers, and pitchers like J.R. Graham and James Hoyt waiting in the wings, it seems more and more obvious that Jordan Walden‘s time in Atlanta could be over.  Regardless, James Hoyt might be 2015’s version of Shae Simmons.  Only time will tell.