ARLINGTON, Texas – Jared Shuster’s next opportunity has arrived.
The Braves have recalled Shuster from the minors, and he will start Tuesday against the Rangers. Shuster began the season on the opening-day roster and started the series finale versus the Nationals. He allowed eight runs over 8-2/3 innings in two big-league starts before Atlanta sent him down. He walked nine batters and only struck out five.
He’s had a taste of the major leagues.
Might he be more prepared this time because of that beneficial experience at the beginning of the season?
“I hope,” Snitker said.
Over five starts for Triple-A Gwinnett since the Braves optioned him, Shuster has a 3.28 ERA across 24-2/3 innings. He’s struck out 23 and walked 14. He has a 1.38 WHIP. Opponents are batting .220 against him.
Shuster’s last start came May 10, so he’ll pitch on an extra day of rest Tuesday.
“He’s been pitching good,” Snitker said.
Shuster seemed like the most realistic candidate for Tuesday’s start. The Braves optioned Dylan Dodd on May 5 and pitchers who are optioned must spend a minimum of 15 days in the minors – unless they’re recalled to replace an injured player. Dodd hasn’t yet reached the 15-day requirement.
Michael Soroka is at Triple-A hoping to soon complete his comeback to the majors. But over the weekend in Toronto, Snitker made it sound as if the Braves still want Soroka to work on some things down there before bringing him up.
Perhaps the Braves mulled a bullpen game for Tuesday – especially with a Thursday off day and Spencer Strider pitching Wednesday – but they just did one Sunday. And they executed one four days before that. That would’ve been a lot of stress on their bullpen, especially in this stretch of difficult opponents. Plus, after Thursday, the Braves’ next off-day isn’t until June 1. (And this string of games includes the Braves playing on “Sunday Night Baseball” on May 28 before playing in Oakland on Monday.)
When the Braves started Dodd on May 4 in Miami, they knew it would be a spot start and that they would option him after the game. We don’t yet know if that’ll be the case for Shuster, but even if it is, there’s a newfound rotation competition.
Max Fried and Kyle Wright are on the injured list. Neither will return anytime soon. The Braves probably can’t do bullpen games forever . They’re going to need starting pitchers to capably fill in while Fried and Wright are sidelined.
This is an important start for Shuster, who’ll have the opportunity to show his continued development at Gwinnett over the last month.
The Braves haven’t yet announced the corresponding move for bringing up Shuster, but it could be lefty Danny Young, who pitched 2-1/3 scoreless innings to close out Monday’s win.
The Braves have juggled a lot lately as they’ve decided on whether to deploy bullpen games or call up starters.
“It’s not easy,” Snitker said of those decisions.
A lot goes into it. If the Braves bring up someone from Triple-A, that pitcher must be ready and the team must be sure the move won’t stunt his development. The Braves also have to think about the state of their bullpen, which relievers could pitch at which points in games, and more.
“It’s hard,” Snitker said. “We lost two starters, that’s not easy to replace. So you have to figure out a way. Sometimes over the course of the game, you’re gonna do things that you normally wouldn’t because you have that in mind down the road. You gotta hold guys back, because you do have innings to cover later on. It’s not ideal, but you got to make it work somehow.”
