Wright makes strong early impression

JUPITER, Fla. -- The Braves are using this spring to try to find a solid fifth starter. Kyle Wright made his first case to be that man Wednesday.

Wright’s Grapefruit League debut went about as well as the 23-year-old right-hander could have hoped, as he tossed two shutout innings in the Braves’ 4-0 win over the Cardinals at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium. The 6-foot-4 Wright struck out three of the first five batters before giving up back-to-back hits in the second inning.

Wright, the Braves' No. 2 prospect per MLB Pipeline, threw 35 pitches, 23 for strikes, before exiting, which was the pregame plan.

“I was very impressed with him,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “He’s a kid with a really nice arm. It was a brief look last year, but I know people are really high on him.”

Wright was the first player from the Braves' 2017 Draft class to reach the Majors last season, pitching to a 4.50 ERA in four appearances (six innings). He said his primary focus Wednesday was to pound the strike zone and not get behind in the count.

“Sometimes last year I think I fell behind hitters too much, and coming into today the main focus was to attack hitters,” said Wright, whose final fastball registered 94 mph on the stadium scoreboard. “I threw a lot of two-seams, and it was good to see [the results]. The main thing was to throw strikes, but I still wanted to incorporate as many pitches as I could to know where I’m going to be the next outing, stuff like that. Honestly, I tried to use as many as I could, but at the same time establish [my] fastball and throw strikes off that.”

Wright said he felt good physically after the outing and easily could have stretched out another inning, but he knows that’s not the goal this early in Spring Training.

“I hope I can continue to build up and feel better and better,” Wright said. "When you throw strikes, it’s a lot easier to pitch than when you’re behind. Those guys are good enough as it is, so if I’m behind [the count] it just makes it tough on yourself. I did a pretty good job of throwing strikes, and when I fell behind I did a good job of making quality pitches to get back into the counts. I’m happy with it.”

Snitker said he’s pleased with what he has seen from all of the young pitchers in camp. Seven pitchers combined on the four-hit shutout and had nine strikeouts against the Cardinals.

“We were excited about [the young pitchers] when we were early in camp,” Snitker said. “They’ve all helped themselves very well. They haven’t disappointed. They’ve been fun to watch. A lot of really nice arms. They’re just going out there and just getting after the hitters, pretty much. I think they all have a lot of confidence in themselves. They get behind and they work themselves back in counts, and it seems like they make big pitches when they get in trouble, also.”

No need for pitch clock

With improving pace of play a league-wide goal, Wednesday’s game was 2 hours, 31 minutes, or about the same time that it took the Braves’ bus to make the trip to Jupiter from Lake Buena Vista. So, yes, it can be done.

The game was scoreless until the Braves scored all four of their runs in the top of the eighth inning on two hits, two walks, an error, a wild pitch and a sacrifice fly by Luis Marte.

Up next

The Braves host the Tigers on Thursday at 1:05 p.m. ET. Touki Toussaint, a 22-year-old right-hander, is scheduled to make his second Grapefruit League start. He allowed two runs on two hits in his first outing, a two-inning stint against the Mets.