Atlanta Braves have Kevin Gausman, but is he the right pitcher for them?

Gausman may not exactly be a household name, but the Braves chose him to fill over the center of their rotation for the next couple of years.

With around 45 minutes left on the clock until the MLB deadline day was over, the Atlanta Braves and Alex Anthopoulos made calls to several teams, finally finding a suitor in the Baltimore Orioles. In the process, he acquired right-handed pitcher Kevin Gausman and right-handed pitcher Darren O’Day.

We’ve talked a lot in these pages about Gausman already, with both Alan and Fred outlining their expectations. But let’s talk today about things like ‘potential’

The Braves were rightly hesitant in sending any big name prospects for an ace-ish pitcher, but they were fine with acquiring a somewhat under-achiever in Gausman in addition to a former all-star reliever in RHP Darren O’Day.

In return we gave Baltimore LHP Bruce Zimmerman, 3B/INF Jean-Carlos Encarnacion, C Brett Cumberland, and RHP Evan Phillips.

The Loss Potential

Of the four prospects given up, Zimmerman and Encarnacion are the ones that we may see again be really good in the majors.

Zimmerman had a 9-4 record and a 2.86 era in his journey through the minors this season. Encarnacion hit for a .288 average while knocking in 57 RBI and having 10 homers. He’s the one with the upside for having a real major league career.

Evan Phillips played for the Braves this year but didn’t have much success, posting an 8.53 ERA. On the other hand, Cumberland has never really lived up to the potential he has since being drafted in the 2nd round by Atlanta in 2016, posting a career average of .242 in his minor league play.

The New Potential

Kevin Gausman is one that, like Cumberland, has never quite lived up to the potential to this point. Despite this, he has had some success in the majors. Posting a 4.43 era this year for Baltimore.

Gausman has great control and some plus stuff in terms of pitch selection. He won’t wow you with velocity (still, he does live in the low-to-mid-90’s) but his control is there.

He also may not be an ace or having that impressive shutdown factor, but he can go deep into games and put up great effort. Plus Gausman is has a pretty friendly contract and won’t be a free agent until 2021.

…and a New Day

Darren O’Day is a fantastic relief pitcher; very consistent and reliable day in and day out. That said, he did just have season-ending hamstring surgery, though, it won’t hold him back for next year. O’Day has been one great player for Baltimore and has a very interesting throwing motion. He starts low and ends on his side: it’s quite the show.

More from Tomahawk Take

This trade tells me that maybe the Braves aren’t super committed to a deep playoff run. I think the Braves want to win but aren’t trying to waste prospects for a rental player.

For example if the Braves wanted to go for a World Series type run (which clearly isn’t off the board completely given the team they have now), they could’ve pushed hard for a better pitcher in Archer or J.A Happ or maybe an Ace in Jacob DeGrom – no matter how expensive they may be.

The trades made at and around the deadline don’t mean Atlanta isn’t looking to win the division or even make the playoffs, its actually quite the opposite. In terms of next years season, however, that may be the year we go after a big playoff run with hopes of a World Series win… and if Gausman hits his potential, he could very well be the right fit.

Next. The Braves Calendar is Full!. dark

With prospects like Kolby Allard, Mike Soroka, Austin Riley, and Touki Toussaint coming in around next year along with potential free agent additions like Patrick Corbin, A.J Pollack, and Adam Ottavino, the Baby Braves of today may be an actual force to be reckoned with come this time next year.

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