Braves Rumors: Vaughn Grissom future, rotation fix, Josh Hader buzz

Braves Rumors: Allan Winans could be surprise fix to rotation

The Atlanta Braves starting rotation has been the subject of scrutiny for the past few weeks. Coming out of splitting a four-game series with the lowly Pittsburgh Pirates, it was only the club that stole two games against them in that set that had a worse ERA from their starters since the All-Star break with the Bravos sitting at 6.15 since that point.

This wasn’t something that could be blamed on injuries totally, though. Max Fried is back in the fold and, overall, has looked good. Rather’s it’s been guys like Spencer Strider, Charlie Morton and Bryce Elder who had been far less effective of late than they were earlier in the season.

As the club still waits for (hopes for?) the return of Kyle Wright from injury, though, they are still throwing anything they can at the wall to find their fifth starter, most recently giving Yonny Chirinos plenty of chances. But now a surprise option may have emerged.

With the Braves drubbing the Mets in the doubleheader on Saturday, notably the 21-3 beatdown in the first game, most of the attention was paid to the barrage of hits. But Allan Winans inserted his name into the conversation.

The 28-year-old righty who the Braves got for $24K from the Mets not long ago spun a gem for the Braves, pitching 7.0 innings and striking out nine while allowing just four hits, two walks and no runs. Granted, he had the benefit of no pressure with the offense going berserk, but that was still an impressive 111-pitch showing.

This was Winans’ second start for Atlanta after going 4.1 innings and giving up five hits and two earned runs on July 22 against Milwaukee. But with two solid outings now under his belt, could he be the fix that the rotation has been looking for?

At the absolute least, he’s earned another crack at proving that he can be that player until Wright returns or, in the worst-case scenario, if Wright doesn’t return this season.