Atlanta Braves Making The Team Meter 2013: Pitchers, Week 4

Week four of the Atlanta Braves Making the Team Meter (MTM) begins with the pitchers. Which ones will make the team and which ones are headed back to the minors? Last week's pitchers MTM is here. To begin with we'll assume that there is a group that has already made the team:

Starters: Tim Hudson, Paul Maholm, Mike Minor, and Kris Medlen. That leaves one spot available.

Relievers: Craig Kimbrel, Eric O'Flaherty, Jonny Venters, Jordan Walden, and Cristhian Martinez. That leaves two spots available.

As you will see below, we're calling one of these battles complete, the other battle...

Player, Position	Trend	Last Week	Roster Status	Notes and Comments
Luis Avilan, LHP			40-Man	Avilan had a shaky outing last week, but it still looks like he's cruising to a spot in the bullpen. We'll keep him on this list as there's such a good competition going for those final two bullpen spots, and with Avilan having minor league options, you never know what might happen.
David Carpenter, RHP			40-Man	Just when we thought he might be straightening things out, he gets blown up again, so we'll move him back down a notch. Odds are he gets sent down, but there's still a slight chance he could sneak into the pen -- the Braves don't seem to be tipping their cap on what the pen will look like to open the season.
Cory Gearrin, RHP			40-Man	He finally gave up some runs this spring, but overall he's pitched superbly, and leads the Braves relievers in strikeouts.He should make the team, but like Avilan, he's got options, so we'll see. If Walden has to start the year on the DL, that could open up an additional spot for all three guys competing for these bullpen spots.
Sean Gilmartin, LHP	Cut from MTM		NRI	We'll cut him from our watch list as he's likely among the next round of cuts. He's pitched pretty good this spring, and helped his stock with the team for the long term.
Wirfin Obispo, RHP	Cut from MTM		NRI	The Braves haven't cut him from the team yet, but we'll cut him from the MTM.
Daniel Rodriguez, LHP	Cut from MTM		NRI	He's still around on the Major League side of camp, but likely not for long. It will still be interesting to see if the Braves make him a reliever or leave him as a starter in the minors.
Julio Teheran, RHP	Made Team		40-Man	Teheran has arguably been the Braves best starter this spring -- opponents are hitting just .104 against him. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this dominance continues into the season. This is the kind of pitcher he was talked about as being when he was a prospect a couple of years ago. Fingers. Crossed.
Anthony Varvaro, RHP			40-Man, out of options	The proverbial fly in the ointment. He's made it into 9 games, most on the team, so they're certainly getting a lot of looks at him. He's out of options, and if he continues pitching as well as he has been for most of the spring, then the Braves will likely have to add him to their pen, or risk losing him on waivers. He would then push either Gearrin or Avilan to the minors. Really, he's the reason there's a battle for the last two bullpen spots still going on.

Arrow Key:

= Chance of making the team is good.

= Chance of making the team is slightly better than 50-50.

= Chance of making the team is slightly worse than 50-50.

= Chance of making the team is bad.