MIAMI – It’s been a difficult and emotional six months for Luiz Gohara, but Thursday night brought only joy and dignity for the Braves rookie pitcher.
Gohara, whose father died while with him at home in Brazil during the offseason and whose mother has also been struggling with illness, thought of both of his parents after the left-hander had what could become a signature moment in his young career.
He pitched the final three innings of the Braves’ 9-2 win against the Marlins to earn the first save of his professional career in his first major league relief appearance, and afterward Gohara could barely contain his feelings when asked near the end of his postgame interview what it meant and whether he’d thought about his father.
“It’s really special,” he said. “I know my dad’s been watching me the whole day, every day. And I know mom’s there, too. She probably (was) watching (the game on television). She’s going to see that game and she’s going to be proud.”
As reporters thanked him and walked away, Gohara smiled and said again, in a quieter tone to himself but loud enough that it could be overheard, “She’s going to be proud.”
Of course she was.
Her 21-year-old son has been through a lot lately, first with the tragic and sudden loss of his father in December – the cause of death was uncertain – and then during the spring, when a couple of injuries caused the Braves starting-rotation spot for which he’d been penciled to slip away.
He came to camp overweight after the difficult winter, strained his groin while running in the first days of spring training, then sprained an ankle two days in a fielding drill two days before his planned first Grapefruit League start.
Gohara, who impressed everyone during a five-start September call-up last season and was rated the No. 23 prospect in Baseball America’s Top 100 entering spring training, missed the entire Grapefruit League schedule and opened the season on the 10-day disabled list.
After struggling in two of three minor league starts he was optioned to Triple-A when his 30-day rehab stint expired.
The next start at Triple-A Gwinnett was worse than the rehab starts, as Gohara allowed eight hits, six earned runs and four walks in 4-1/3 innings on May 2 at Charlotte.
But despite his 6.89 ERA in four minor league starts, the Braves called him up to the majors at the beginning of the week when they needed a fresh arm in their bullpen.
Credit: Michael Reaves
Credit: Michael Reaves
He was with the team in Tampa but didn’t get in the game in either of the wins in a two-game sweep of the Rays. Before Thursday’s Miami series opener, manager Brian Snitker said he needed to get Gohara in a game soon because it had been eight days since he pitched.
The multiple-innings opportunity Snitker was looking for presented itself several hours later after the Braves scored seven runs in the sixth inning – included were Ozzie Albies’ grand slam and Freddie Freeman’s two-run homer -- to open a 7-1 lead against the Marlins.
Sam Freeman pitched the sixth inning because the veteran lefty had already warmed up when starter Mike Foltynewicz was pinch-hit for with two in the sixth inning as the scoring outburst was beginning to unfold.
But after Freeman pitched a perfect sixth, Snitker turned the game over to Gohara, hoping he would be sharp enough to get the Braves through the final three innings and help keep the bullpen fresh with four games still remaining in the next four days on the road trip.
Gohara did precisely what was needed, limiting the Marlins to two hits, one run and two walks with two strikeouts in three innings, the run coming on a Lewis Brinson homer in the ninth. Not bad for a guy who’d made only one relief appearance
“Never being out of the bullpen, always being a starter for six years, now coming out of the bullpen -- first day got my first save,” Gohara said. He laughed and added. “In three innings. It’s like, I’ll take it. I’ll take it.”
He showed much better command than in his minor league starts and fastball velocity in the 94-97 mph range, several ticks above the reduced velo of his recent Triple-A starts.
“That was a great opportunity to get him some work and the three innings are good for him,” Snitker said. “It had been a while since he made his last start in Triple-A, so that was a really good time for him to go out and get some good work.”
Gohara earned the save by pitching the final three innings in a win.
“It’s awesome, because he’s been through a lot,” said Foltynewicz, who gave up three hits and one run in five innings for the win. “It’s awesome to see (Gohara) up here just pounding the zone, getting guys out. Especially with such a big lead like that -- things can get away from you (with a big lead), but he attacked it, just pitched like it was a zero-zero game.
“It was awesome to see that and he saved the bullpen a little, too.”
Gohara said he didn’t think about the lead: “I put it in my head like I was just starting the game, and go from there.”
And afterward, he spoke about the moment with pride, not in any sort of dismissive manner that a prized starting-pitcher prospect might regard late relief in a one-sided game. This, too, was another big positive in the view of the Braves: He showed character, approached the situation as an opportunity and seized the moment.
Snitker said the Braves still view Gohara as a starter and will continue to develop him as one. He could be a major part of their future; in fact. he’s expected to be.
But for now, Gohara will work out of the bullpen in whatever capacity the Braves ask. He’ll approach it as a chance to contribute, move forward in his career, and to make his parents proud.
“It’s something that they (Braves) can really trust me to be in a spot as a reliever -- long, short, to close a game if they need me to,” Gohara said. “I like to feel that way with the confidence they gave me to put me in the game late.”
