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Atlanta Braves: Can Touki Toussaint Be the Answer in the Rotation?

By Jake Mastroianni

LOS ANGELES, CA - OCTOBER 05: Touki Toussaint #62 of the Atlanta Braves delivers the pitch during the seventh inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers during Game Two of the National League Division Series at Dodger Stadium on October 5, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - OCTOBER 05: Touki Toussaint #62 of the Atlanta Braves delivers the pitch during the seventh inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers during Game Two of the National League Division Series at Dodger Stadium on October 5, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images) /
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The Atlanta Braves will begin playing Spring Training games on Saturday and Touki Toussaint will get the start. He may be just what the Braves need in the rotation.

Spring Training games are finally here for the Atlanta Braves and Touki Toussaint gets the first start of the spring.

The 22-year-old right-handed pitcher had a solid debut with the big league club last season posted an ERA of 4.03 in 29 innings pitched making five starts with 32 strikeouts and a WHIP of 1.35.

He made enough of an impression during the regular season that he was included on the postseason roster. Touki made two appearances in the NLDS and pitched three scoreless innings allowing just one hit. However, he did give up four free passes, which seemed to be contagious among Braves pitchers.

The former 16th overall pick by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 2014 MLB Draft enters the 2019 season with high expectations.

He is set to compete with other young prospects for the fifth spot in the rotation. Mike Soroka was expected to be his biggest competition, but his shoulder continues to bother him.

That being the case, it’s hard not to imagine Touki breaking camp with the big league club and being in the starting rotation.

But can Touki ultimately become a frontline starter for the Atlanta Braves?

Mike Foltynewicz and Sean Newcomb have made strides over the past two seasons to be fixtures atop the rotation, and Touki could join them this season.

Touki is one of those elite prospects who has always had the tools, but he’s struggled to control them.

In his first minor league season in 2014 he had a BB/9 of 5.7. That has slowly decreased each season to 4.9, 4.8, and 4.0 in 2017.

This past season in the minors he was finally able to get that BB/9 rate under four and he started to see a lot of success. At the Double-A level he had a 3.8 BB/9 rate with an ERA of 2.93 in 86 innings pitched. And then in eight Triple-A starts he had a BB/9 of 3.0 with an ERA of 1.43 in 50.1 innings.

That is what helped turn around his prospect status and why many thought he could become the top of the rotation pitcher many thought he could be when he was drafted in the first round.

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But, his BB/9 ballooned back up in the big leagues to 6.5, and we continued to see that in the postseason.

There is no questioning the stuff of Touki. He now throws a two-seam fastball that can get up to 97 MPH with a lot of movement, but he sits 92-95. His best pitch is his curveball, which he was able to throw for strikes in the minors last year. Touki also features a change-up that he’s been able to turn into a weapon.

With that kind of repertoire he has everything he needs to be a top of the rotation pitcher in the big leagues. His K/9 throughout the minors has always been above nine, and even in the big leagues last year it was 9.9.

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The key for Touki this spring and into the season will be controlling all of his pitches and limiting the walks. If he can do that, then he’ll join Folty and Newcomb atop the Braves rotation really quickly.

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