LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – Jhoulys Chacin had emerged as a frontrunner for one of the two available spots in the Braves starting rotation, and that likely didn’t change with a rough outing Wednesday against the Cardinals.
The right-hander gave up eight hits, three runs and one walk in three innings of an 8-8 Grapefruit League tie at Champion Stadium, including a run in each of the first three innings.
“Just one of those days,” Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. “Got the ball up a little bit. Breaking ball didn’t look as sharp as it did before. This is his third time out. Just one of those days. I’m not reading too much into it.”
The veteran non-roster signee had allowed three hits and one walk in five scoreless innings in his two previous starts this spring, and the Braves’ recent decision to release fellow non-roster invitees Kyle Kendrick and Chris Volstad seemed to solidify Chacin’s chances at landing the fourth spot in the rotation.
“I was leaving too many pitches in the middle, trying to get my fastball away and missing in the middle,” Chacin said of Wednesday’s outing. “Big-league guys are going to put a pretty good swing on it and get base hits….
“I’m not going to let today get in my mind. I feel like my pitches weren’t moving well, just need to get better location with my four-seam fastball. That’s the one I was missing with today. And maybe try to use a little more breaking balls to these guys; they’re aggressive. Besides that, just try to keep the ball down. That’s always my game, trying to keep the ball down, get ground balls instead of throwing up in the zone.”
The only three certainties for the Braves rotation appear to be opening-day starter Julio Teheran, Matt Wisler and Bud Norris. Williams Perez, who was impressive as a rookie starter in 2015 before getting hit with a line drive in the leg, is a possibility for the fourth or fifth spot.
Mike Foltynewicz, who makes his Grapefruit League debut Thursday, and left-hander Manny Banuelos are possible candidates for the fifth spot. Both are returning from a surgery-shortened season and they’re at least a week or two behind other starters this spring, but the Braves won’t need a fifth starter until April 12 in the seventh game of the season due to two off days in the schedule during the first week.
“I’m open-minded,” Gonzalez said. “Chacin, other than this outing, he was pitching real good. Again, this outing was just one of those outings, chalk it up to a rough outing in spring training and we’ll go from there.”
