Atlanta Braves Seek Replacement For Injured Starting Pitcher Kyle Wright

As Kyle Wright starts his second stint on baseball’s Injured List this season, the Atlanta Braves have to find the right man to replace him in their rotation.

All Wright did last season was win 21 games, more than any other pitcher, and realize the potential he had been flashing since breaking into the big leagues five years ago.

On paper, Wright spent the winter as the likely third starter on a strong staff headed by Max Fried, runner-up for the National League’s Cy Young Award last year, and Spencer Strider, runner-up to teammate Michael Harris II in the voting for National League Rookie of the Year. But a sore shoulder – discovered in January – sidelined him for most of spring training and delayed his 2023 debut, forcing the team to try rookies Dylan Dodd, Jared Schuster, and Bryce Elder.

Veteran Charlie Morton, at 40 the old man on a young team, held the third slot after Fried and Strider.

The experiment worked, as the Braves jumped to a 22-10 record, best in the National League and six games ahead of their nearest divisional rival, entering the first weekend of May.

Replacing Wright is important but not urgent; the Braves won’t need a fifth starter again until May 16 because of assorted upcoming off-days, two of them next week.

Wright, who received a cortisone shot when first diagnosed with the shoulder problem, is undergoing more tests as the team tries to determine the severity of the issue.

The 6’4″ right-hander broke into the big leagues in 2018, picked up his first win two years later, and blossomed into a star last summer, when he had a 21-5 mark and 3.58 earned run average, striking out 174 men in 180 1/3 innings. It was by far the biggest workload of his career.

Wright, 27, has 23 regular-season wins and two more in post-season play. The Vanderbilt product hails from Huntsville, the same town that sent former Braves closer Craig Kimbrel to the major leagues.

Including the five starts he made this season, Wright has averaged 8.5 strikeouts and 3.7 walks per nine innings.

Because of his experience, Soroka seems to have the best shot at replacing Wright.

Though he’s made only three starts in three years because of Achilles tears that required surgical repair, Soroka has a 15-6 record and 2.86 ERA, thanks to a sensational 2019 campaign in which he made the NL All-Star team and finished second in the Rookie of the Year voting.

At 25, he’s two years younger than Wright.

Dodd and Schuster, two left-handers, made the varsity this spring after strong showings in exhibition play. Dodd is now in his second stint as a starter with Atlanta.

The Braves could also fill the Wright gap with a veteran, perhaps even former San Francisco World Series MVP Madison Bumgarner, whose North Carolina home is part of Braves Country.

The 33-year-old lefty was recently released by the Arizona Diamondbacks. Cost would not be a factor, since signing Bumgarner or any other released veteran would cost only the pro-rated portion of baseball’s minimum salary, $720,000. Wright is earning $750,000 this season.

Soroka, a 6’5” Canadian, is signed to a contract that pays him $2.8 million this year. He can become a free agent after the 2024 campaign.