Atlanta calls up pitcher Allan Winans to start tonight in Milwaukee

The Atlanta Braves have announced roster moves this morning, including calling up RHP Allan Winans for his MLB debut tonight in Milwaukee.

The #Braves today selected RHP Allan Winans to the major league roster, released OF Eli White and optioned RHP Seth Elledge to Triple-A Gwinnett following last night’s game.
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) July 22, 2023

Winans, a 2018 17th rounder by the New York Mets out of Campbell University, signed for only $10,000 out of college. He established himself as an intriguing relief prospect during his time in New York's minor league system, but Atlanta grabbed him in the 2021 Rule 5 draft and converted him into a starter.

7-3 with a 2.81 ERA in his 18 AAA Gwinnett appearances this season, he's struck out 89 batters in his 102.2 innings pitched. Not featuring overwhelming stuff, Winans has a six pitch mix and relies on location and avoiding barrels to be successful. His most frequently thrown pitch in Gwinnett this season is his changeup, thrown 38% of the time and getting around 31.2% CSW. It pairs well with his four-seam fastball, which averages right at 90 mph but locates really well, with low whiff numbers (7.2%) but remarkably high CSW numbers (32.3%) for a fastball - most fastballs average in the high teens to low 20s in CSW. Five of his six pitches (the cutter is the only exception) feature a CSW over 30%, and he's walked only 6.5% of batters in AAA this season (fifth-lowest among qualified pitchers in the AAA International League) with a groundball rate over 50% and a barrel rate of 7.4%.

I'm sure Allan's parents have traveled to Milwaukee for the game, but his extended family can find it rather easy to watch his debut - tonight's game is a national broadcast on FOX, with first pitch scheduled for 7:15 PM ET. The radio call, with Ben Ingram, is available locally on 680 AM/93.7 FM The Fan or outside the Atlanta market on the Atlanta Braves Radio Network or MLB.com.

As Winans needed to be added to the 26-man roster, the corresponding move was to option Seth Elledge to AAA Gwinnett. He's bounced around 40-man rosters in the league this season, with Atlanta originally signing him to a minor league contract in late March, DFA-ing him in April, where he was then claimed and DFA'd by both the Mets and Tigers before rejoining Atlanta's organization. He was called up earlier this week and did not appear in a game.

To make room on the 40-man roster, outfielder Eli White was released. Atlanta traded for him in late December from the Texas Rangers, and he appeared in six games back in April during the absence of Michael Harris II. White was 1-14, scoring once with two walks and seven strikeouts. Atlanta optioned him back to AAA Gwinnett in late April, and he's batted .254/.363/.450 in 43 games for the Stripers.

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