It’s Happened Again – Atlanta Braves Lose McKirahan for Year

Torn UCL Means a Second Tommy John Surgery for Surgery for McKirahan

It has been a rocky professional career for the 26-year-old Braves left-hander, and today’s news puts another underlined footnote onto that resume.

Andrew McKirahan got to throw all of 5 pitches this spring… and then came out of the game Wednesday vs. the Orioles in mid-AB when his forearm tightened up.

Originally drafted in 2011 by the Cubs in the 21st round, McKirahan started off throwing very well for them in short-season and then in low-A ball, but that didn’t last.  In May of 2012, his UCL broke loose and he was sidelined with a ligament-replacement surgery.  Coming back in 2013 was a slow process – less than 30 innings, though his numbers were still promising.  That continued in 2014 as he advanced to the AA level.

However, at the end of 2014, McKirahan had not yet been elevated to the 40-man roster (given the stoutness of the Cubs’ farm at that point) and was left exposed to the Rule 5 draft.  The Marlins took a flyer and snatched him up.

However, in Spring 2015, it seems that the Marlins had bitten off more than they could handle on their own roster, and placed McKirahan on waivers as a precursor to having to offer him back to the Cubs.  That’s where Atlanta – in dired need of bullpen guys who could throw strikes – picked him up.

Suddenly McKirahan went from (a) not on the 40-man roster to (b) member of the Marlins to (c) member of the major league Atlanta Braves.

That didn’t last long, though.

Within the first 3 weeks of the 2015 season, McKirahan was called out for having failed a drug test – specifically one called Ipamorelin, a growth hormone enhancer.  80 games down without pay.

McKirahan did return in late July and posted a 5.93 ERA in 27 innings with increased walks and decreased strikeouts as compared to his minor league work.  But again, all of that comes as a result of a pitcher thrust into the major leagues after only 29 innings at even the AA level.  Additionally, when you survey the game logs, there were numerous decent outings… just a few that went badly for him (5 appearance with 2+ runs allowed in 27 total appearances).

So in camp as one of the few lefty relief options the Braves had in an otherwise crowded bullpen (with Matt Marksberry, Ian Krol, and Alex Torres), McKirahan had a decent shot of sticking around for another year – though DO’Brien reports he was behind these others.  It appears that Atlanta would have had to keep him on the 25-man roster for a while longer in order to truly “keep him”, as his 2015 suspension stopped the clock on the Braves’ Rule 5 obligations [note: no, for he spent the minimum 90 days on the active roster in 2015].  Now all of that is up in the air as his season is done, pending a visit to Dr. Andrews to confirm what seems to already be known.

Regardless, it’s a big body blow for McKirahan, and certainly one that has the potential to derail him for good.

Next: Reviewing the View of Spring Week 1

Let’s hope that he can get fixed up sufficiently to give it one more good try.