PHILADELPHIA – When the Braves needed reinforcements for a weary bullpen Friday, they optioned rookies Brandon Cunniff and Sugar Ray Marimon to Triple-A Gwinnett and replaced them with two more right-handers from Gwinnett, Michael Kohn and rookie John Cornely.
Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez was asked if there were any particular reason that Cunniff (2.00 ERA in team-high 10 appearances) was sent down.
“No, just get two fresh arms out here that can help us with the series,” he said. “Cunniff, actually, the last couple of outings was really good. So we get two guys out here. Cornely’s a guy that can give you some length, and Kohn can maybe bridge the gap in the bullpen. He’s done it before, he’s got a little experience in the big leagues, so we just figured he could help us some this go-round.”
Braves relievers allowed 17 earned runs in 27 innings over the past nine games, including six losses, and Cunniff had pitched in all three games of the Mets series that ended Thursday. That pushed his total to 10 appearances in the team’s 15 games, tied for the major league appearance lead before Friday.
With so many starters leaving after six or fewer innings, the bullpen has been forced to cover at least three innings in seven of the past nine games, including four or more innings in five games and 3 2/3 innings in Sunday’s 6-3 loss at New York.
Relievers allowed multiple earned runs in seven of the past eight games including all three in the Mets’ sweep.
Cunniff has a microscopic .038 opponents’ batting average, with nine strikeouts and just one hit allowed in nine innings, albeit with six walks. But perhaps the most important number to consider when the personnel moves were made late Thursday was three – the consecutive games he pitched.
After allowing one hit, one run and two walks in one inning of Tuesday’s series opener against the Mets, he allowed no base runners in one-third of an inning Wednesday or 1 2/3 innings Thursday. If he’d not been sent down, he wouldn’t have been avavilable to pitch at least Friday, and the Braves wanted to bring in a couple of pitchers, Kohn and Cornely, who’ve been working multiple-inning stints at Gwinnett.
The decision was probably easier with Marimon, who has not excelled in what was expected to be primarily a “long relief” role in his first stint in the big leagues. Marimon had a 6.14 ERA, .296 opponents’ average and .364 opponents’ OBP in four appearances, allowing eight hits (two doubles, one homer), five runs, and four walks with five strikeouts in 7 1/3 innings.
Marimon gave up three hits, two runs and two walks in two innings Tuesday against the Mets, and walked in the winning run after entering with bases loaded Thursday. He didn’t allow anything else in his 1 1/3-inning stint Thursday, but he, too, would’ve need at least one day of rest after a pair of multi-appearances in the past three days.
Cornely is likely to fill the role Marimon had, but Gonzalez said he was looking for pretty basic stuff from the callups.
“Throw strikes and cover innings and get people out, really,” Gonzalez said. “You know, it’s funny because a long man in the National League, it’s (only) about three innings, because you’ve got to pinch-hit. Unless you’re starter gets hurt in the first inning, and then you’ve got to piece it together, then by the end of that game you can move some pieces around and get a fresh bullpen.
“But I think a guy that can give you two-plus innings, is about what you need in the National League. Shoot, I’m kind of hoping that we want see them for seven or eight days – (that) they’ll be up here for a week and our starters start going seven and eight innings, and we don’t have to mess around with those long guys or middle guys.”
