It is accurate (and precise) to describe the Gwinnett Braves’ starting pitching in the season-opening home stand as major league quality in a minor league venue. Through the season’s first week, the rotation is made up of once and future major leaguers.
Rodrigo Lopez made was good enough to lead a MLB team in innings pitched in 2010, the Arizona Diamondbacks. He also has 75 wins in the show and was second in the American League Rookie of the Year balloting in 2002. In his first start in Gwinnett (a 2-1 win over the Durham Bulls), Lopez pitched six innings and gave up just one run. In his second start on Wednesday, Lopez went seven-plus innings, and again gave up just one earned run. His goal at Gwinnett is simple, get back to the show. On media day last week, the serious and analytical Lopez talked about fine tuning his approach, “I need to get my A-game to be a success and get back to the big leagues.”
Lopez arrived at Atlanta’s spring training hoping to nail down the fifth starter’s role. You might say he was the big club’s insurance policy. He pitched well in enough to tie Brandon Beachy for the most strikeouts this spring but ultimately was Atlanta’s third choice behind Beachy and Mike Minor.
Minor was the organization’s first draft pick in 2009, and seventh overall. He has already been pitched for Atlanta this season. Before the end of the G-Braves first home stand, the lefty has already been promoted to Atlanta and reassigned to Gwinnett. Against the Milwaukee Brewers, Minor went 4 1/3 innings and was charged with five earned runs. In AAA, Minor gave up two runs over six innings and was not a pitcher of record in his first start.
Coolray Field wasn’t exactly where he really wanted to be pitching, but Braves veteran Jair Jurrjens was happy with his rehab start on Monday. Jurrjens has proven he can pitch on the big stage, with 13 wins in 2008, when he finished third in the National League ROY voting, and he added 14 wins in 2009 before an injury shortened 2010. His performance versus the Norfolk Tides – six innings, two runs and 48 strikes in 81 pitches – proved he is ready to resume his role in the parent club’s rotation on Saturday. Afterward, with ice on Velcro-ed to his shoulder and knee in the clubhouse, Jurrjens talked about his relationships with Minor and Lopez, “I tried to talk to Mikey (Minor) before the game and ask him how he felt in Milwaukee. And Lopez is a veteran. He can teach me more than I can teach him. I tried to pick his brain in spring training.”
Not to be left off list of talented starters for Gwinnett is Julio Teheran. Teheran is rated by Baseball America as the top prospect in the organization, his rise though the farm system has been meteoric. Teheran should only be a sophomore in college, has a good fastball, and barring a rash of injuries in Atlanta, the righty is only a year or so away from having the opportunity to get comfortable down I-85 in Fulton county. In his first start, he gave up one run over five and two thirds innings but was not involved in the decision, a G-Braves extra inning loss.
G-Braves manager Dave Brundage knows he is fortunate to be shepherding such a talented, and at the same time, liquid group of aces. From behind his desk, he reflected out loud, “A bunch of them could be starters in the big leagues. Obviously Jurrjens is going back [to Atlanta], Minor has started and Lopez did. With Teheran it’s just a matter of time. … Their goal is not to win here in AAA, it’s to get to the big leagues.”
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