PHILADELPHIA – Neither Tyrell Jenkins nor his team got a win Wednesday, but the Braves rookie nonetheless impressed in his first major league start.
Facing the hottest-hitting team in the majors in one of the more hitter-friendly ballparks, Jenkins allowed four hits, one run and one walk with one strikeout in 4 2/3 innings of a 4-3 loss to the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park.
Not bad for a guy whose last start was May 29 against Triple-A Syracuse, and who found out only Tuesday that he would make an emergency start in place of All-Star Julio Teheran, who has an infection in his right thigh and could return this weekend.
“I’m proud of him,” Braves interim manager Brian Snitker said. “He gave us everything he had. I think he was ready to go. He was pitching. He was mixing pitches and keeping the ball down. He did a great job.”
So was Jenkins’ grandmother, watching on TV back home in Texas. Jenkins, who’ll be 24 in two weeks, said there was a text on his phone from his mother, as usual, after the game.
“She told me my grandma was watching,” he said, smiling. “My grandma, she’s 96, she hasn’t seen me pitch since high school, so she got to watch the game today, and that was pretty exciting.”
Jenkins had made eight relief appearances since he was switched to the bullpen at Triple-A Gwinnett, a move the Braves thought might hasten his arrival in the big leagues. He had four relief appearances for the Braves, including a two-inning 43-pitch appearance Sunday against the Marlins in the Fort Bragg Game.
On Tuesday, the Braves asked if he was ready to fill in for Teheran, who had returned to Atlanta to have his infection treated. Jenkins didn’t hesitate.
This wasn’t Syracuse that he faced Wednesday, it was a Phillies team that had 22 homers and a majors-leading .317 average and .899 OPS over its previous 14 games.
“Just feels good to face someone besides the Marlins,” said Jenkins, who had faced Miami in three of his four relief appearances. “So just to go out there and face a new team was pretty good, and kind of give the team what they needed on short notice was pretty good, too. Next time maybe I’ll go out there and be even better.”
Snitker said the plan for now is for Jenkins to return to the bullpen. The Braves believe he could be part of their long-term plans in either role. A former two-sport athlete and Baylor quarterback recruit, he still is relatively inexperienced as a pitcher.
Jenkins gave up a leadoff single in the first inning before getting three consecutive outs, two on grounders. In the second inning, he gave up a leadoff walk followed by a single, then got three consecutive ground outs and stranded two runners in scoring position.
“Shoot, I thought he pitched well,” Braves left fielder Jeff Francoeur said. “I think early on he was having a little trouble finding the strike zone, then all of a sudden he just found it. Got out of a jam there and rolled. That’s all we can ask for from a guy who threw, what, 40 pitches just three days ago? Very nice.”
After the Braves got a run in the third inning, Jenkins pitched a perfect third inning — he got help from right fielder Nick Markakis on a terrific running catch at the warning track in right-center — and a perfect fourth.
He retired nine consecutive batters before Freddy Galvis’ leadoff single in the fifth. Galvis stole second before Cesar Hernandez singled to Francoeur, who made a strong, near-perfect throw to the plate to cut down Galvis trying to score.
One ground out later, Jenkins was replaced by left-hander Ian Krol with two out, a runner at third and Odubel Herrera coming to bat. Herrera hit a sharp double on Krol’s first pitch to drive in the only run charged to Jenkins, who threw 38 strikes in 64 pitches.
Snitker was asked how difficult a decision it was to replace Jenkins with Krol in that situation.
“Real tough,” Snitker said. “But it’s kind of like, it’s a one-run game there, and I think (Jenkins) was on fumes when he went out for the fifth. It was tough, but I was hoping we’d win the game 1-nothing, the way it stood. And he’s going to have a chance to get a lot of wins in his career.
“But he did a great job of stretching the game that far. I kind of felt it would be unfair to him in that matchup when he was on his last legs right there. We probably went as far as we really wanted to go with him. But he did a great job.”
Jenkins said while wasn’t out of gas, his arm felt a little heavy.
“I definitely understood (the decision),” he said. “It’s an All-Star (Herrera) coming up to bat. You’ve got to play the situation there. I K’d him up earlier (struck him out), but at the same time he’s real aggressive, and obviously my fastball didn’t have as much life on it as it had earlier in the game.
“I knew the situation, I knew what my pitch count was, so I knew right what (Snitker) was doing. I’m all for it.”
