MIAMI – The Braves had their last road game of 2015 on Sunday at the same place they began the season, playing the Marlins in Miami. And for rookie relief pitcher Andrew McKirahan, it was even more of a circle completed than that.
Albeit a circle far from perfect.
The Braves claimed McKirahan off waivers from the Marlins in the last week of spring training. Because he’d been Rule 5 pick from the Cubs in December, he was required to remain on the 25-man roster all season or be offered back to the Cubs for half of the original $50,000 claiming price.
So he started the season in the Braves bullpen, ready or not. And just two weeks into the season McKirahan was slapped with an 80-game suspension for using performance-enhancing drugs, after failing a drug test he had taken during spring training while still with the Marlins.
The Braves were extremely disappointed, but stuck with McKirahan, who soon joined fellow reliever Arodys Vizcaino – he was suspended three weeks earlier for 80 games, also for PEDs – at the Braves’ training complex outside Orlando for workouts during the summer so they’d be ready when eligible to return.
Vizcaino’s return has been a resounding success. The right-hander with the 98-99 mph fasatball moved into the closer role after Jason Grilli got hurt and Jim Johnson was traded, and entering Sunday Vizcaino had a 1.86 ERA and seven saves in 31 appearances, with 32 strikeouts and 12 walks in 29 innings.
The same can’t be said for McKirahan, 25, whose first season in the major leagues has been difficult, to put it mildly.
He had a 5.93 ERA in 27 appearances before Sunday, with 10 walks and 22 strikeouts in 27 1/3 innings. His ERA was third-highest among National League relievers with at least 25 innings pitched before Sunday, better than only teammate Sugar Ray Marimon (7.36 ERA in 25 2/3 innings) and Colorado’s Rafael Betancourt (6.18 ERA in 39 1/3 innings).
McKirahan’s .345 opponents’ batting average was 24 points higher than the next-worst among NL relievers in 20 or more innings.
In six months he’s gone from the excitement of being claimed by the Braves late in spring training, a team that wanted and needed a left-hander, to doing some good things in his first three appearances in April, to being suspended for 80 games and struggling mightily after he came off the suspension.
“There’s definitely been a lot of unexpected events,” McKirahan said. “You can say that about anything in life; you never know what’s going to happen day-to-day, year-to-year. It’s been a huge learning experience. I had a lot of growing up to do, a lot of time to reflect, and grow up spiritually, with my family, teammates, whatever.
“There’s been a lot of ups and downs. But if you stay in the middle and keep your head straight, you can turn those negatives into positives.”
If he’s strengthened himself mentally, there’s still plenty of work to be done on the field. In his past 19 appearances before Sunday, McKirahan had an 8.00 ERA and .386 opponents’ average.
Left-handed hitters were hitting .300 (18-for-60) against him for the season, while right-handers were torching him at a .393 clip (22-for-56) with a .460 OBP and .518 slugging percentage. With runners in scoring position, McKirahan allowed a .357 average (15-for-42) with two homers, 23 RBIs and a .440 OBP.
The Braves had to keep him on their major league roster this season due to his Rule 5 status. Next year, he’ll need to earn a spot, and manager Fredi Gonzalez said he’ll need to improve his pitch repertoire in order to be successful.
“Going into spring training next year that’s something (pitching coach) Roger (McDowell) will address, maybe teach him a breaking ball – a better breaking ball than he has right now,” Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said.
What does McKirahan rely on now?
“Just fastball,” Gonzalez said. “His breaking ball is just kind of ineffective, really. So we need to sharpen that up a little bit.”
Since trading lefty Luis Avilan in late July, the Braves have relied heavily on two rookie lefties, McKirahan and Matt Marksberry. Despitea 5.09 ERA in 28 appearances before Sunday, Marksberry’s performance has improved steadily and he shows plenty of promise for the future. McKirahan has not made similar strides.
“We need to get him over the hump,” Gonzalez said. “Because velocity-wise, both him and Marksberry are good. And for me, Marksberry’s done great, for a kid who started in A-ball this year, and you throw him in here against big-league left-thanders. But we need to come up with some kind of other pitch for McKirahan.”
