Atlanta's pitching plans for this weekend versus the Pirates
The Atlanta Braves didn't get swept by the St. Louis Cardinals, but not only did the Redbirds come in and ruin the momentum Atlanta may have had from the long West Coast road trip, they also shook up the pitching plans for this weekend versus the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates.
When Darius Vines was added to the active roster to replace an injured Michael Soroka, the initial plan was to start him this weekend when that 5th spot in the rotation came back around. Those plans were scuttled when Spencer Strider was able to go only 2.2 innings against the Cardinals on Wednesday, with Vines coming into the game and pitching two innings in relief.
The Braves have announced Bryce Elder as the starter for tonight's game, and both Saturday and Sunday are officially TBA. Spencer Strider's been announced as one of the starters for Monday's doubleheader, and Charlie Morton, who would have been on regular rest for Saturday, is a likely candidate to get the other.
Even with the loss of Soroka, Atlanta's got multiple options for Saturday and Sunday. Dylan Dodd hasn't pitched for Gwinnett since August 30th, and could start either of those games. Jared Shuster, who hasn't pitched since September 2nd, could as well. Allan Winans opened Gwinnett's series against Durham on Tuesday and would be on regular rest for a Saturday start against Pittsburgh. Obviously, a transaction would be required to get them onto the active roster prior to starting.
Darius Vines, having pitched Wednesday, could be a longer relief option over the weekend if Atlanta were to go with a bullpen game or he could start one of Monday's games, if Atlanta wanted to skip Morton completely.
The Braves have an off day next Thursday before heading to Miami, and could take that opportunity to reconfigure the order so that they had the top of the rotation lined up to face Philadelphia the following week.
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