MLB rumors: 3 pitchers the Braves have to avoid trading for

Pitchers the Braves shouldn’t trade for: Marcus Stroman, Chicago Cubs

Keeping it in the NL Central, Marcus Stroman is going to be a big name floated around at the trade deadline, but I would be unsurprised to see him stick around at Wrigley Field August 1st and beyond. Stroman has declared his love for playing for the Cubs, and the way Chicago is performing now, their best bet to secure a quality starting pitcher for years to come is to capitalize on Stroman’s desire to agree to a long-term extension with the team and Chicago is open to that.

It might be tricky to convince the best of the best in free agency this winter to come to Chicago. Stroman already wants to be there and plays well there.

But back to Atlanta, Stroman does play a decent narrative when you think about how he would fit in Atlanta. He already hates the Mets, which plays well for the Braves. He’s an electric pitcher who would be fun to see at Truist in front of passionate Braves fans, especially in a postseason environment.

He’s also pitching well, with a sub-3.00 ERA and a 1.094 WHIP. He has allowed just seven barreled balls, the second-lowest among qualified pitchers in the MLB according to FanGraphs.

I, personally, am a huge fan of Stroman as a starting pitcher, just not for the Braves.

If Atlanta is to add starting pitching at the deadline, it needs to be a sure-thing, quality starter. As it stands, Atlanta has performed well, so they risk a lot of messing with the winning formula by adding a new pitcher into the mix just because he’s flashy and has good numbers.

Stroman is fun to watch and, like I said, electric. I also love that he doesn’t have an arsenal quite like a typical starting pitcher. Unfortunately, I think that could also be his undoing in the postseason. Stroman has a great mix of six pitches, but none that feel like standouts. I worry he’s liable to implode in the postseason without a go-to sequencing to establish a favorite pitch.

If anything, it’s probably the sinker, which he throws over 40 percent of the time. That pitch scares me because opponents are hitting .215 against it, but the expected batting average is .285. In fact, he doesn’t have a single pitch where the XBA is lower than the batting average. If that comes back to earth after a team trades for him, they might feel like they got a lemon.

Other metrics, like field independent pitching, show Stroman’s quality starts aren’t exactly all that they seem. His FIP is 3.74, which is 0.79 higher than his ERA.

I don’t think Stroman would be a bad addition (in fact, of the three pitchers here, he would be the best gamble), but given his upcoming free agency, he would be a shortsighted move that wouldn’t provide a big enough upgrade to make worth it, much like the first two pitchers on this list.