Kyle Wright struggles in second rehab start

For those of you who saw Kyle Wright's first rehab start in High-A Rome and thought he was ready to come back this weekend: Not so fast.

Wright, who is just a few days shy of missing four months of MLB action thanks to a balky shoulder that's been giving him trouble since January, took the ball for Gwinnett last night and put up a bit of a clunker - one and two-thirds innings with three hits and three runs, walking two and striking out one on 31 pitches (15 strikes).

He gave up four hard-hit balls in the nine swings logged against him, and wasn't consistently around the zone with the slider, logging only a 27% strike percentage with the pitch. Stats don't necessarily matter in rehab starts, per se - command, velocity, and pitch count are the more important factors - but it's still tough to see the statline.

Wright's sinker, which he threw 15 times, averaged 93.6 and touched 95.4 mph. His slider was down around two mph from his season average, averaging 85 mph, but with more spin and significantly more vertical break than his norms, a possible indication that he's changed something about the pitch to either be more effective or to reduce strain on his shoulder.

Those two pitches were his primary focus, as he threw the curveball, cutter, and changeup a combined five times in the 31 pitches.

After Lucas Luetge struggled to close the 2nd inning (three hits and three runs allowed, with one walk), Dylan Dodd came out of the bullpen as a piggyback and covered 5.1 innings with six hits and one run, walking three and striking out four in his ninety pitches.

Hall of Fame pitcher Tom Glavine talked just this week with us about the postseason rotation and how you really only need three starting pitchers until later into October, and questions will continue to swirl about if Bryce Elder's going to be that eventual fourth starter.Either he answers those questions by continuing his recent success or someone else steps up to answer the call, but it feels premature to automatically pencil in Kyle Wright for that 4th spot as of now.

The Braves have not said one way or the other about a timeline for Wright's activation to the active roster, but with the emergence of Darius Vines and Allan Winans in AAA Gwinnett, as well as the pending service time date of Michael Soroka, the Braves can afford to be patient with Wright and ensure he's at 100% health and effectiveness before relying on him in a meaningful capacity.

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