What to think of the Braves’ fifth starter situation after a blowout loss to the Pirates

Five observations:

1. On Thursday, Kerr traveled to Pittsburgh and, he said, was unsure whether he would start or come out of the bullpen on Friday. The team, he said, told him he could do either. On Friday, Kerr learned he would start that night’s game.

“Actually, honestly, it surprised me a lot,” he said of his first big league start after a long run in this game. “Knowing I was starting today, when I got there I was like, ‘Oh shit, okay, let’s do it.’ I set up a routine in my head, I followed it, I hope I will add elements to this routine as we move forward.

Kerr and the Braves hoped this first one would go better, however. The left-hander allowed five runs in four innings – two runs in the first inning, three in the third. The Pirates hit him hard, for the most part. Kerr left too many pitches above the plate.

In the first inning, Kerr hooked a curveball and Nick Gonzales hit a two-run single. In the third, Edward Olivares lined a single with a run on a four-seam fastball up the middle. Then Yasmani Grandal launched a two-run double to shallow right field.

The Pirates put five balls in play over 100 mph against Kerr. Four arrived in the first two rounds.

“He just never got into the flow, never found the rhythm,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “His stuff was good – his stuff will always be good. This is a different scenario than he has experienced before. I don’t know. It obviously wasn’t as effective as before, but I’m glad we gave him a chance, because, you know, his job is good, it’s just about learning how to do it.

Kerr issued a walk, but struck out six batters as he showed some of the things that made an impression on the Braves.

Darius Vines allowed six runs in three innings in relief of Kerr. The Braves offered him to the minors after the game. He will be part of Gwinnett’s Triple-A rotation and the Braves will bring in a new arm.

Years ago, Kerr was cleaning the floors of a movie theater because he thought his baseball dreams might be dead. And over time, he has proven it: these aspirations are very much alive.

His journey took him to the ballpark of PNC Park, a major league baseball stadium. It didn’t go well, but it was still a great success.

“I’m very excited to have the opportunity to get the first start in the big leagues,” Kerr said. “It was new to me. Learning experience. It didn’t turn out the way I wanted it to, but baseball doesn’t do that for you. But if I take another start, you’ll see a different Kerr.

And Kerr, at the end of an answer to a question, made a sort of wish.

“Yeah, we’re going to be mean to them,” he said. “We’re going to get nasty.”

2. What do the Braves do with the fifth starting role?

This may be the most pressing question facing this team right now. The offense has been disappointing, but the track record of these guys tells us they’ll probably improve.

But how will the Braves resolve this last spot in their rotation?

Here is the combined ERA of Max Fried, Chris Sale, Charlie Morton and Reynaldo López: 2.62 over 36 starts.

Here is the ERA of Allan Winans, Bryce Elder, AJ Smith-Shawver, Vines and Kerr in their 10 combined starts: 6.39.

Moving forward, the Braves could use a mix of guys. The Braves could follow whoever is pitching well at that moment and ride them until they fail to perform.

“Yeah. We’ll continue to do it,” Snitker said of the hot hand he found and his attempt to continue. “There are options. It’s just one of those things you have to fight against. fighting. This thing is never perfect, it’s never easy, but we’ll just keep working our way through it and then finding a solution and making it work.

A year ago, Elder became an All-Star. Maybe someone will have a good run – someone like Dylan Dodd, Winans or Vines. It could even be Elder. Maybe it will be Kerr, who showed flashes despite Friday’s rough start. Hurston Waldrep has pitched well and is now in Double A, but the Braves may want to give him more time before calling him up.

The Braves were dealt a major blow. They had five excellent starters – until Spencer Strider needed season-ending elbow surgery. And on Friday, Smith-Shawver, who had an encouraging start on Thursday, was diagnosed with a Grade 2 oblique strain, which could sideline him for six to eight weeks.

And at this point, Atlanta doesn’t have a clear option for the fifth spot in its rotation.

“We’ll just see where it takes us,” Snitker said. “We’re just going to do this on a daily basis and see where the guys are at. We have done it before and we will do it again.

And at some point before the deadline, maybe the Braves will make a trade.

3. It’s easy to get caught up in one night, but keep this in mind: Kerr was last a full-time starter in 2018. He hasn’t made 10 starts in a season since 2019. He’s still in development.

He could still be a valuable starter for Atlanta if they choose to continue on this path with him. And if not, then he showed – albeit in a brief stint – that he could serve this club in a multi-inning bullpen role.

Friday’s start, in which Kerr threw 72 pitches, was another step forward in terms of workload.

“It’s kind of legitimately expanded now, which is good,” Snitker said. “Because this guy has some tricks.”

What if the Braves could ask Kerr to help them fill that fifth spot in the rotation moving forward?

“Oh, it’s very exciting,” Kerr said. “I know I can play six or seven innings. I mean, I did it in 2018, but my arm is starting to get used to 60, 70 pitches right now, so we’ll continue to stretch and see how far I can go.

4. In the top of the eighth inning, Ronald Acuña Jr. launched a three-run homer. At this point, it no longer made any sense for the game.

This, however, helped the Braves go on a streak, as it gave the Braves their first points of the game.

The Braves haven’t been shut out since May 12, 2023, a span of 172 games. This is the franchise’s longest such streak in the modern era (since 1900).

And perhaps this circuit is an encouraging sign for Acuña, who has struggled to get going.

5. The Braves offense had a few early chances.

Acuña led off the fourth inning with a single, only to be erased on a double play. Then Marcell Ozuna hit a double with two outs, but found himself stranded at second base.

The Braves had two men down with one out in the fifth. They couldn’t score.

The offense hasn’t completely returned to its usual form, but then again, finding itself in a huge hole early on didn’t help.

Stat to know

2 for 27 1/3 – Before Friday, the Braves had allowed two runs in 27 1/3 innings over their last three games. Their pitchers entered this series with a 3.26 ERA, which ranks fourth in baseball. The pitching has been great – the Braves just need to find that fifth spot in the rotation.

Quotable

“’Am I ready to start? Will my (speed) be consistent? » Things like that, that I have to get out of my head. – Kerr on the nervousness he felt before his first career start

Following

On Saturday, Reynaldo López of the Braves will try to continue his good start to the season by facing right-hander Mitch Keller and the Pirates. The game starts at 4:05 p.m.