Atlanta Braves Promote LHRP Ian Krol

Braves Continue to Tinker, Add LH Ian Krol to Bullpen

It took a little longer than expected, but southpaw reliever Ian Krol has been promoted to the majors from AAA Gwinnett:

The initial plan way back in the early part of the year was that Krol would be one of the LOOGYs that would make the team after the Braves acquired him in the Cameron Maybin deal with the Tigers.

Things didn’t quite work out that smoothly.

During Spring Training, Krol was a disaster:  12.71 ERA in under 6 innings, with 4 walks, just 3 K, and a whole bunch of hits and runs allowed.  His acclimation to Disney World did not take, and the Braves were forced to go to plans B and C.

Matt Marksberry was one of those plans, though he has been working on his craft in the minors.  Andrew McKirahan was another, until his elbow blew out.  This forced the Braves to look elsewhere, and that’ s when Eric O’Flaherty arrived.

Since others are doing the dirty work this morning, I’ll save myself the effort and give them credit for the homework:

That’s the long and short of it:  Krol has righted his ship, but this ship shouldn’t venture far from shore.  He is truly a left-handed hitter specialist, and hopefully will be able to support the staff in that role.

Hunter Cervenka has still be pitching way over his head (1 hit allowed this entire season!), and Eric O’Flaherty has at least been improving lately (1 earned run in his last 7 outings), so this trio – if they stay intact – certainly looks good for the Braves going forward.

This is not Krol’s major league debut:  he had 45 appearances over 32.2 innings in 2014 and 28 innings in 33 games in 2015 for the Tigers.  His ML ERA is 4.91, with LHH hitting .258 and RHH .318 off of him in those games.

Next: Catcher in the Eye

No further roster moves are known at this time… but the day is still young.