Touki Toussaint disposed of the unofficial “quad-A” Miami Marlins in his first start. He’ll see the historically potent Red Sox in his second.
Toussaint makes his second start for the Braves on Monday, a long-awaited encore to his Aug. 13 debut. The 22-year-old was among seven initial September call-ups Saturday.
“It’s going to be exciting,” Toussaint said. “You’ll still be a little nervous. Haven’t been here for 10 years, you know? But it’s going to be fun. … You dream of this as a little kid. You want to be in the World Series pitching against the best.”
The Braves will rely on Toussaint as the sixth member of their expanded rotation. He isn’t expected to handle that role exclusively, but he could earn the bulk of the work with showings reminiscent of his first.
Toussaint held the Marlins to two hits over six one-run innings. His curveball matched the lofty expectations. His change-up kept the Marlins off-balance and complemented his mid-90s fastball.
“Very excited to see him again,” manager Brian Snitker said. “When he left here, he continued to pitch really, really good. He’s had some kind of year and come a long way. I’m excited to see him again.”
Snitker could’ve opted for Bryse Wilson or Kyle Wright, other highly touted youngsters, but the Braves had both operate from the bullpen recently at Triple-A Gwinnett. Each could still comfortably throw 75 pitches, but Toussaint was fully stretched out. And the Braves are eager to see him in the majors again.
Since returning to Triple-A after his spot start, Toussaint registered three scoreless outings, going at least six frames in each. He scattered 19 hits and struck out 24 while walking just four across 19 innings.
He lowered his ERA to 1.43 over 50-1/3 innings in Triple-A. Not bad for a pitcher who owned over a 5.00 ERA in High-A last season.
“Fastball command,” Toussaint said, reiterating his reasons for improvement. “That’s what pitching is. To be able to throw the fastball where you want it, off-speed where you want it. Everything builds off that first.”
Toussaint will be tasked with minimizing baseball’s best offense. The Red Sox already have 94 wins – for perspective, these Braves have 75 entering Sunday, and the National League-best Cubs have 80 – and Boston’s plus-220 run differential is by far baseball’s best mark.
J.D. Martinez and Mookie Betts alone will be as challenging a pair as Toussaint will see in his career. They’ve combined for a .339 average, 68 homers and 185 RBIs, engineering an offense that will be remembered among the all-time best.
But that doesn’t intimidate Toussaint. As he sees it, he’s achieving what he’s worked for his entire life. He wants to see the Red Sox of the world; as from the Braves’ perspective, they can see what the callow Toussaint has to offer.
“We feel like he gives us a good chance to win,” Snitker said. Toussaint is up for the test.
