Braves Find Rotation Relief with Hurston Waldrep

The outcome of the game on Thursday night was far from what the Atlanta Braves wanted. But if there was a plus, it was the start delivered by right-hander Hurston Waldrep.

He got into some trouble in the first inning. The Cardinals got a rally going, capped off by a three-run home run by Jordan Walker.

The Braves backed him up with a five-run rally in the bottom half of the inning, and he rolled from there. He followed up the shaky first inning with 4 1/3 scoreless innings and picked up four strikeouts during that span.

“It’s nice to settle in, get in a little groove,” Waldrep said. “Kind of get a feel for some stuff, the game. Getting a little more trust for some pitches.”

While the feel for some pitches was in and out at times, he was happy with the curveball, the cutter and the splitter, even if that latter pitch of the three wasn’t shown as much.

His curveball in particular had an 86% whiff rate, and three of his four strikeouts came on the pitch.

Notably, his sinker has seen heavier use in comparison to last season. It accounted for 45% of his pitches on Thursday, and 40% of his pitches thrown since he’s been called up.

The change in his approach was designed to help him establish better counts.

“We need to get ahead, strike one, attack, stay ahead in the count and everything will follow from there.”

It was up in the air just a day before if he would get to be on the bump as a starter. The Braves had him ready and waiting in the bullpen in case Reynaldo López couldn’t get as far as they would have liked him to.

They got five innings from López, setting up Waldrep for Thursday. It all worked out from that perspective.

Both arms have shown in the past that they can step up when the rotation needs them. Waldrep notably jumped in late last season at time when the entire rotation was on the 60-day injured list, and only one of them would play again that season.

Now, he's showing he can step up again.

Manager Walt Weiss said after the game that the last two nights have built up his confidence that he has some options in the rotation. Right now, he feels like there are six starters. Since the bullpen is also down an arm in his mind, some decisions will have to be made at some point.

“So we’ll figure that stuff out, but I’m really encouraged by the starts of the last couple of nights,” Weiss said.

Unfortunately for Waldrep and the Braves, the bullpen had a rare off night. They allowed seven runs in the top of the seventh inning to fall behind. They ultimately lost 11-5.

Having the extra arm to turn to, even with the shuffles, will come in handy. While he’s starting for the Braves on Friday, it’s expected that Holmes could eventually move to the bullpen.

The Braves don’t have an off day until the All-Star break. We’ll have to see how they opt to manage this stretch so they can try to finish the official first half strong.

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