Braves show stunning amount of optimism despite another lackluster debut

The Atlanta Braves have struggled to find a No. 5 starter ever since Spencer Strider went down with his season-ending injury. Hurston Waldrep, Atlanta's No. 2 prospect according to MLB Pipeline, was the latest starter to get a chance, but his MLB debut didn't exactly go as planned.

He got off to a great start, getting through the first three innings without allowing a run and facing the minimum, but things got out of hand in the fourth frame. Waldrep wound up allowing seven runs, all earned, and he was unable to finish the fourth. Washington won 8-5, and Atlanta lost another series against their NL East rivals.

On paper, there wasn't much good to take from Waldrep's outing. Despite that and another frustrating loss, the Braves showed a stunning amount of optimism following Waldrep's start.

Braves show stunning amount of optimism after Hurston Waldrep's lackluster MLB debut

Waldrep was promoted despite having just 84.2 minor league innings under his belt with only 10.1 of them coming in AAA. Despite his limited professional experience and lackluster debut, Braves manager Brian Snitker was impressed by what he saw.

“I thought he handled himself really well for the limited experience he has,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “His composure and all of that stuff was really good. He’s another young guy with a lot of upside.”

Sure, for a player with limited experience, it's fair to say Waldrep did handle himself well. However, if this is what Snitker is going to focus on, shouldn't Waldrep get more experience first? The stuff is good, and he has upside, but is he ready now? His debut showed that he might not be. Rushing Waldrep to the majors while the team continues to struggle might not have been the best idea.

“That [splitter] is real,” Braves catcher Travis d’Arnaud said. “The slider is good. He’s able to get strikes with it. The heater plays, too. … I think he’s got enough to get through [a lineup] two, three and maybe even four [times] with that split. That thing is gross.”

The splitter is Waldrep's best pitch by far, and he proved that in his MLB debut as he generated whiffs on 42.9% of the splitters that he generated swings on, but what about the rest of his arsenal? The home run Waldrep allowed came on his fastball. He only threw a total of 12 sliders. He threw his four-seamer and his splitter a combined 80.6% of the time according to Baseball Savant.

Starting pitchers can get extremely predictable if they only have two pitches they're comfortable with throwing. Until he develops more secondary stuff, it's hard to agree with d'Arnaud's assessment that Waldrep can really get through a lineup three or four times. He was tattooed once Nationals hitters saw him for a second time, and the Nationals aren't even that great of an offensive team.

Waldrep has the ability to be an excellent starter in the future, but this Braves team is playing for right now. Is Waldrep really ready to help them win right now? Hopefully, Snitker and d'Arnaud are correct with their assessments, but his debut didn't exactly give Braves fans reason to be optimistic about how productive Waldrep can be at the MLB level right now.