The Morning Chop – Stats, Hats, Rejection, Bunting
Rare: This could be one of the only times you see a pic of Eric Stults in a Braves uniform. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports
The Great Pitching Race
By the weekend, all of the candidates for the last spot(s) in the rotation will have thrown at least twice. Recall that there are two rotation spots open at the moment, since Mike Minor will be delayed by a month. Let’s see how that’s coming:
[table id=12 /]
I don’t know that you can discern a lot of trends yet, but just about everyone has been pitching pretty well, and that will give Atlanta a great deal of flexibility down the line.
At least some flexibility.
Ken Rosenthal learned last week that there are opt-out dates in the contracts of these “depth” pitchers:
- Eric Stults: April 3rd
- Chien-Ming Wang: July 1
- Wandy Rodriguez: that date is unknown.
Rosenthal doesn’t even know if Rodriguez has an opt-out clause: just before the Braves signed him, Wandy failed a physical with Philadelphia. That could be a reason for not getting such a clause… but you’ve gotta wonder how the Phillies feel about that call right now.
The way things are going now, look for Eric Stults to be cut loose in about 2 weeks while the Braves hold on to Wang and Wandy as long as possible.
One more point that I’ll continue to make: 29 teams had a free shot at Cody Martin during the Rule 5 Draft. Depending on any Rodriguez’ “out” clause, Cody might have a real shot at the roster.