NEW YORK – Ian Thomas was a feel-good story as a 27-year-old Braves rookie reliever early last season, a guy who’d paid his dues pitching several years in independent league outposts.
Then he was sent back to the minors and shut down for much of the second half with shoulder pain.
Then he was optioned to Double-A this spring training, and the big left-hander had reason to wonder if his window was already closing or closed. But Thomas didn’t look at it that way, and the fact that he didn’t is a big reason he’s back.
The Braves recalled Thomas from Triple-A – he was promoted from Double-A after two appearances – on Tuesday to replace suspended lefty Andrew McKirahan, who’ll be out 80 games without pay after a positive performance-enhancing drug test.
Former major league lefty Greg Smith also signed a minor league contract with the Braves and was assigned to Gwinnett.
Thomas got the call Monday on his 28th birthday and joined the Braves in New York for Tuesday night’s series opener against the Mets. He had recorded seven strikeouts and only one hit allowed in 6 1/3 scoreless innings over four appearances, two apiece in Double-A and Triple-A.
“He had some success for us last year in that role,” Gonzalez said of the sinkerballer, who had a 4.22 ERA and 13 strikeouts in 10 in 10 2/3 innings over 16 appearances for Atlanta last season, with 10 hits and one walk allowed. “He went down and we cut him early in spring training, but all the reports that I’ve gotten say he took it as a challenge, and he behaved down there tremendously. Work ethic, didn’t pout one second. And here it is, two weeks into the season and he’s ready to come back up and help us win ballgames.
“And it’s nice to know that we’ve seen him before, because we know what to expect.”
Thomas didn’t get down on himself or the team after being optioned to Double-A during spring training. He used it as motivation.
“I thought it was a little test, from last year, to see how I’d be able to deal with a little adversity,” he said. “I was having health issues last year, too. Want to see how I do on the bounce back. Going back to Mississippi, I felt like I was taking a couple of steps backward. But at the end of the day, it’s really the progression, how I can produce and move forward with it.
“It was a little bit of a whirlwind. But now it feels good to be back.”
