LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – Though Aaron Blair had an inkling he might be traded after hearing the Diamondbacks wanted Shelby Miller, Arizona’s then-top-rated pitching prospect was still stunned when the deal finally went down in December at the Winter Meetings in Nashville.
Blair, just 23 and Arizona’s No. 2-rated prospect, was dealt to the Braves along with the team’s No. 1 prospect, shortstop Dansby Swanson, and potential Gold Glove outfielder Ender Inciarte. It was a blockbuster deal, and the industry consensus was that the Braves had fleeced the D’backs.
“I didn’t see it coming, but….” Blair said. “All week on Twitter it was, the Diamondbacks are trying to acquire Shelby Miller. The first week or so after it happened, it hadn’t set in yet.”
Also, he said, “For the first guy drafted (Swanson, No. 1 overall pick in June) to get traded the same year he was drafted, that was unheard of.”
For Blair, it was a trade that could help grease his path to the big leagues — he’s now competing for a spot in the Braves rotation. That outweighs the inconvenience for his relatives. The Diamondbacks play and train in Arizona and Blair is from Las Vegas.
“Yeah, it was a good move baseball-wise,” said Blair, who gets the start for the Braves in their second Grapefruit League game Wednesday against the Orioles in Sarasota. “There’s a lot more opportunity here for me to maybe get in the big leagues a little bit quicker. But I’m from Las Vegas, and being in Scottsdale (for spring training) I was right there at home.
“So the family’s kind of disappointed. But for me it’s a good thing.”
Blair, the highest-drafted player ever from Marshall University – first round, 36th pick in 2013 — has been ranked among the top 50-60 prospects in baseball for the past two years. Baseball America made him the No. 3 prospect (behind left-hander Sean Newcomb and Swanson) in a Braves system that’s rated as baseball’s best by ESPN’s Keith Law.
The quartet of Newcomb, Blair, Lucas Sims and Tyrell Jenkins is generally considered to be the closest to the majors among the Braves’ many starting-pitcher prospects, and all could pitch in the big leagues at some point in 2016.
While Newcomb is a consensus pick as the best of the bunch and a potential top-of-rotation starter, Blair is a bit more polished and could be the first of the group to crack the rotation. The big right-hander was 13-5 with a 2.92 ERA in a combined 26 games (25 starts) at the Double-A and Triple-A levels last year in his second full season in the minors, with 120 strikeouts and 50 walks in 160 1/3 innings.
Blair is scheduled to make two starts in the first week of spring-training games, while Newcomb and Sims are scheduled to make one apiece in the first nine games.
There’s a chance one of the prospects could make the opening-day rotation, though the Braves might opt to go with veterans Kyle Kendrick and Jhoulys Chacin for the last two available spots behind Julio Teheran, Matt Wisler and Bud Norris.
Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez only gave the pitching plans for the first nine games, and it’s not clear if any prospects will get more starts beyond or pitch innings in relief until one or more of them is shipped off to minor league camp.
For now, it appears Blair may have the best chance to stick around deep into spring training and perhaps until the end. He’s strong and durable at 6 feet 5 and 235 pounds, and his heavy 91-95 mph fastball induces a lot of groundballs. Blair also features a plus-changeup and a good if still-inconsistent curveball.
Asked what he needed to do this spring to compete for a spot in the rotation, Blair said, “I just need to locate, throw my pitches for strikes, not get myself in trouble by walking people and making stupid mistakes.”
He’s enjoying camp and learned a lot already from veterans including Bud Norris and especially Jason Grilli, whose locker stall is next to one Blair is sharing with Newcomb. Wisler is in the other adjacent locker.
“Having all the young guys (in camp) and all the talented arms is good,” Blair said. “It’s a lot of good competition with each other, and that’s always good. When you have guys competing, it’s just making your club better. That’s what the Braves are looking for.”
