Hurston Waldrep Call-up and what to expect
Hurston Waldrep Call-up and what to expect
Braves promote #2 prospect, number 72 in MLB
News broke around 1:00 on Saturday that the Braves were calling up their number 2 ranked prospect, Hurston Waldrep, to make a start on Sunday against the Nationals. The move is a strategy the Braves are trying to do going with a 5.5-6 man rotation to help Max Fried, Chris Sale, and Reynaldo Lopez receive extra days of rest. The Braves just called up number 3 ranked prospect Spencer Schwellenbach. With Waldrep pitching on Sunday vs The Nationals, Max Fried is pushed back to Tuesday (Braves have an off day on Monday) against the Orioles. The series vs The Orioles, Atlanta will have Fried, Sale, and Lopez, and unless Baltimore calls someone up to spot start, Atlanta will miss Grayson Rodriguez and Corbin Burnes. Spencer Schwellenbach is still currently on the roster, so The Braves are probably going to give Waldrep more than one start before they make any decisions. Let’s get into what to expect from Hurston and what he can provide for this team.
Make-up
The Braves selected Waldrep with the number 24th pick in the 2023 MLB draft. Waldrep, a GA native pitched his way all the way to AAA Gwinnett before being shut down only throwing 29.1 innings. Waldrep is known for his unhittable splitter, that generated a miss rate around 60 percent at UF and The Braves minor league system.
Waldrep was just promoted to AAA a week ago going 6 innings, striking out 11, walking 1, and giving up 3 earned. Between AA and AAA Waldrep has thrown 55.1 innings, with 59 K’s and 18 BB in 10 games in 2024. Waldrep has had some trouble with command, but in his lone AAA start threw 64 strikes out of his 89 pitches. In that start he threw 40 splitters (his best pitch) and 26 fastballs, and 23 sliders. Waldrep has a very good “tunneling” aspect as all of his pitches are thrown at the same release point.
In his 2024 AAA debut, Waldrep pitched against a loaded Norfolk Tides lineup (Orioles AAA) , facing Connor Norby, Heston Kjerstad, and Billy Cook. Baltimores 6, 4, and 30 top prospects in their system respectively. In the first Waldrep gave up a 2 run home-run to Kjerstad in the first, and a sac fly in the bottom of the 4th.
What He Can Do For Atlanta
What can Waldrep do for The Atlanta Braves? Waldrep can add to an injury “bugged” rotation as Spencer Strider and AJ Smith-Shawver are on the IL. Bryce Elder has a 6.46 ERA in 23 innings while giving up a 48.1 Hard- Hit%. Darius Vines has a 5.44 ERA in AAA giving up 26 ER in 43 innings. Allan Winans has given up 20 ER in 46.2 innings, along with 7 HR (11 all of last year). Dylan Dodd is being used out of the bullpen some this year with a ERA also north of 4 while giving up 60 hits in 57 innings. Ian Anderson is still on the IL. The Ray Kerr starting experiment has not gone well to say the least and Huascar Ynoa has only pitched in 3 games this season. With the call up, this gives Atlanta 6 SP, and 3 multi-inning guys. If the Braves go the 6 man route, you will have Jesse Chavez, Dylan Lee, and Ray Kerr who have pitched multiple innings this season. Pierce Johnson and Aaron Bummer have done it multiple times as well. If The Braves plan to go with Schwellenbach out of the pen, they would have 5 multi-inning guys if needed.
In 47 games The Braves top 4 starters have gone 6+ 27 times. In his MILB career Waldrep has gone 6+ 5 out of his 10 starts. Waldrep would be bolstering this rotation and providing more length along with excellent stuff. Waldrep has made tremendous strides with his command only issuing 18 walks in 55.1 innings compared to 13 in 29.1 innings in 2023. Waldrep is a very exciting arm and something Braves fans should be excited about. I don’t foresee The Braves sending him down with the struggles they’ve had trying to find a “5th man”. I expect him to come up and be a huge impact to this amazing rotation with his fastball/ splitter combo will give opposing hitters fits.