Braves next Spencer Strider replacement experiment may have just been revealed

The Atlanta Braves are one of many teams suffering from devastating elbow injuries to their best pitchers. Atlanta's ace, Spencer Strider, is out and (speculatively speaking) could need Tommy John surgery, though the team has yet to give a meaningful update and should have more news to fans in the coming days.

While the Braves and fans await any updates on Strider's status, the team must continue to play and look for solutions while he's unavailable. Whether or not he gets Tommy John surgery, he appears likely to be on the shelf for at least a few weeks. Other starters who have avoided all-out surgery but have suffered injuries of late have also been unavailable for some time. Yankees ace Gerrit Cole is on the 60-day injured list to start the year.

So far, Atlanta's attempts at backfilling the rotation have been futile. Allan Winnans started Thursday's game against the Mets, a 16-4 drubbing in New York's favor. Winnans gave up eight hits and six earned runs, only striking out a single batter.

Braves call up another player to try in the rotation

After Winnans' disastrous performance against the Mets, the Braves moved him back to the minors and called up who appears to be their next try-out: Darius Vines.

Vines's appeared in five games last year for Atlanta, starting twice. As a starter he allowed a sub-.200 batting average and an OPS of .609 against 49 plate appearances. There's not much to go off of from his big-league starts, but in Triple-A Gwinnett this season, he's started two games (12 innings) and allowed five earned runs (3.75 ERA). His WHIP is a remarkably good 0.833 with a solid 3.67 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

In all likelihood, Vines probably won't pitch until the next open slot in the rotation, Wednesday April 16th.