Braves: Tucker Davidson and Ian Anderson showing they’re ready when time comes
The Atlanta Braves have a couple of young starting pitchers that are proving in spring training that they’re ready when called upon.
Tucker Davidson and Ian Anderson, two of the Atlanta Braves top pitching prospects, entered spring training camp knowing they had very little chance of making the team.
Davidson is on the 40-man roster and was my dark horse candidate to make the Opening Day rotation. But unless something drastically changes with the other candidates who are also throwing the ball well, he’s likely to start the season in Gwinett.
It was an even higher hill to climb for Davidson as he’s not even on the 40-man roster.
The two will form a nice 1-2 punch in Gwinnett this season just like they did in Mississippi last season.
However, there is a good chance that one of them — if not both — make their Major League debut in 2020.
And what they’ve done in limited work in spring training has done nothing but help to show they’re ready when the time comes.
Davidson has worked 4 scoreless innings in 3 games this Spring giving up just 3 hits and 2 walks with 2 strikeouts.
Anderson has thrown in just two games and has given up 1 earned run on 5 hits and 2 walks with 2 strikeouts over 2.2 innings.
With starters now working deeper into games, we could see even less of these two going forward — especially with the team set to make roster cuts soon.
Last year Davidson got 5.1 innings in spring training and was even more dominant allowing just 3 hits and 2 walks with 5 strikeouts while not allowing a run.
Anderson threw 3 innings last Spring and gave up just 1 earned run on 3 hits and a walk with 2 strikeouts.
The big thing for me is they’ve both looked very comfortable on the mound, and we all know they have great stuff.
Again, a very small sample size for both, but I’d feel very confident calling up either one of them for a spot start during the regular season.