One of Tyrell Jenkins’ main goals was to make it through the entire season, so the Braves prospect was distressed when arm fatigue prompted him to rest for 18 days near the end of the season.
But the bright side for Jenkins was that he didn’t suffer an injury. It also helped that after he was pulled from his Aug. 16 start and rested, Jenkins pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings for Triple-A Gwinnett on Sept. 4.
“There was never nothing wrong,” Jenkins said. “I was just kind of wore out a little bit. I hate to say that because I was really upset about it because I wanted to go and get through it and not be hurt. But to be able to come back and make that start and show I was OK, I was fine, was pretty huge.”
Jenkins was at Turner Field on Saturday to be recognized as the organization’s minor league pitcher of the year. Outfielder Mallex Smith is the minor league player of the year.
The Braves acquired Jenkins from the Cardinals last winter as part of the Jason Heyward trade. He had a 3.19 ERA while pitching a total of 138 1/3 innings between Double-A Mississippi and Gwinnett this season. Because of injuries, Jenkins hadn’t thrown more than 82 1/3 innings in any of his previous five minor-league seasons.
Jenkins, 23, said he never was concerned that he was injured again.
“The ball just wasn’t coming out as hard as it usually does,” he said.
