SAN FRANCISCO — Last weekend, ahead of a three-game series versus the Mets, the Braves released the names of their probable starting pitchers. Bryce Elder and Charlie Morton were lined up to start the first two games, but the Braves’ game notes listed something different.
Those had “TBA” for Monday – To Be Announced. Elder and Morton followed.
Allan Winans eventually filled the vacancy. By doing this – and pairing it with an off-day from the previous week – the Braves bought Elder and Morton two extra days of rest. Both eventually went six full days between starts.
This is subtle, but important. At times, the Braves will build in spot starts in hopes of keeping starting pitchers fresh.
“I didn’t used to believe in it years ago,” Braves pitching coach Rick Kranitz told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “I mean, guys stayed in the rotation. But I see the value in it, right? Because every start is not the same. Some guys work harder in some starts, other guys have an easier time. I look at it from a standpoint of how many really tough innings they’ve had to work. And then I just think it becomes common sense, right? And it also helps to be up 10 games-plus in the division, too, to where you can pick your spots, and move guys, just give them the rest because (of that). It’s more about the feel of the guy, how he’s going. Did he have a hard start the time before?”
Kranitz’s view on this mirrors the evolution in baseball. “I just think everything has changed in baseball,” Kranitz said. The modern-day view is different from that of five or 10 years ago. Every industry changes.
When Kranitz was the Brewers’ pitching coach in 2011, Milwaukee had only six pitchers make starts. For reference, the Braves have had 15 pitchers start at least one game this season, which includes three relievers who opened bullpen games. In that season in Milwaukee, Zack Greinke missed a handful of starts because of injury, but the Brewers otherwise were healthy. They had a strong rotation and won the division.
“So nobody missed a start, it all went really good, everything was great,” Kranitz said. “Now, we didn’t pitch so great in the postseason. But was that the reason?”
That’s difficult to pinpoint. But the point is this: If done correctly, extra rest can be only a positive.
Years ago, starting pitchers went deeper into games and, thus, logged more innings. They didn’t throw max effort as often as they do nowadays. And at times, teams would skip the fifth starter.
When Braves president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos was Toronto’s general manager, the Blue Jays began building in spot starts instead of riding their five starting pitchers the entire way. They emphasized keeping guys healthy and fresh.
Anthopoulos brought this to Atlanta, where the Braves have, for the most part, had a lot of success keeping pitchers healthy. Ian Anderson (Tommy John surgery) might have sustained the highest-profile injury to a starting pitcher since Anthopoulos arrived. Some of this may be luck, but the Braves certainly take steps toward helping pitchers remain fresh.
Those extra days can mean a lot in the long run.
“Especially late in the year,” Elder said. “I think for a little bit there, when Max (Fried) and Kyle (Wright) were down, we kind of got rode hard a little bit. But I think it’s stuff we’re prepared for, and we’re ready to go, but to get a couple of days at the end of the year, it’s always nice to kind of get your breath again.”
The Braves, Kranitz said, always have an eye on a pitcher’s workload, of course. But they also take into account context. From the dugout, Kranitz and manager Brian Snitker will talk during a starter’s outing. If that guy threw 85 pitches in his last start, maybe he’ll go over 100. But Kranitz is always thinking critically about his pitchers.
“Snit does a wonderful job of letting the guys go, right? Letting them go through some situations,” Kranitz said. “He always says that they’re going to be better for it next time. I think it’s great that he does do that. But then again, we have to look at it and say, ‘OK, now, how tough was that game for him?’ And I usually know that because, in their bullpens, maybe we won’t throw as much or skip a bullpen (session) entirely. Later in the year, they’re not gonna forget. But they needed to slow all that stuff down a little bit.”
Asked how nice it is to have someone like Kranitz for all of this, Snitker said: “It’s awesome. What he brings – the experience, knowledge, the whole thing – it’s really good, which is why he’s so valuable here.”
Each day, Kranitz, Snitker and the coaches discuss their pitching situation. They also talk about it with Anthopoulos, who officially makes any necessary moves.
“For me, it’s more about taking the temperature of the (major league) player,” Kranitz said. “See, I don’t know necessarily all the ins and outs of the minor-league rotations, and what’s going on, because (the front office) kind of does that. And this happened this year, where I said, ‘Hey, I think we need to give an extra day. Who could be available at the minor-league level?’ But you can’t do it if you don’t have optionable guys either. That’s the kind of balancing act that you go through. It’s happened once, I think, this year where I really felt like a particular guy really needed an extra day, and we gave it to them. It’s a conversation. We talk about it every day, we really do. It’s not like it’s coming out of the blue.”
The Braves have done what they did with Elder and Morton multiple times this season. They are strategic with how they utilize off-days. They’re smart with how they line up their starters. This might be even more important for a club like the Braves, who have starters who pitched into November two years ago and into the middle of October last year.
Here’s part of why the Braves can operate as they do with getting starters extra rest: They have more quality depth and many clubs. They couldn’t do this without that. “No, no, no,” Kranitz said. “There’s no way.” Then he went through listing the important pieces of the Braves’ success.
Last year, he said, Elder made huge starts. This season, Jared Shuster and Dylan Dodd deserve credit. And then, Kranitz added, Winans gave the club one of its biggest starts of the season by throwing seven shutout innings in the first game of a doubleheader. “Our bullpen was toast,” Kranitz said. Winans helped save it.
When asked about the organization’s depth, Elder first gave credit to Anthopoulos, Ben Sestanovich (the Braves’ assistant GM in charge of player development) and the entire player-development department.
“I saw it firsthand last year, just the number of guys we have in Triple A,” Elder said. “And to be honest, there’s even more guys than we’ve seen up here, that are coming. It’s really cool to see. It kind of takes the weight off our shoulders when we need a day.”
Elder, however, won’t ever be the one asking for that day.
“No, they’ll come to me,” he said. “I probably won’t ever be at the point in my career where I ask for a day, just because I think my job is to pitch when they need me to pitch, and that’s every fifth day.”
This is what you would expect these major leaguers – who are the best at what they do – to say.
But the Braves have learned a little extra rest now goes a long way in the future.
