FanPost

2 Young pitching guesses for 2019

Considering the young, not yet established nature of a dozen pitchers currently on the 40-man & another half dozen that are non-roster ST invitees, then of those 18 arms who would you say contributes the most on a fWAR basis to ATL's starting rotation & bullpen in 2019? This list includes everyone from the ancient Wes Parsons' (26.5 years old) down to the fledgling Huascar Ynoa (20.8 years old) & only those that have yet to complete a full big league season (rules out Minter & Newcomb). Here's the complete list to choose from:

Allard

Anderson

Burrows

Clouse

Davidson

Fried

Gohara

Muller

Parsons

Sobotka

Soroka

Toussaint

Webb

Wentz

Weigel

Wilson

Wright

Ynoa.

I'll kick things off...

- For the starting rotation I'm going to go w/ Kyle Wright. I truly believe that he's on his way to locking down a spot in the starting rotation w/ the improvement he's showing in ST. I fully expect Toussaint & others to poach a few of his starts, but I think Wright earns the most starts & ends up having a Walker Buehler-esk rookie season. I'm looking for Wright to have over 100 IP w/ a fWAR approaching 3. Please note that if Soroka's shoulder hadn't flared up again, then he'd be my pick, but at this point I see the team being very cautious w/ him in 2019 (expecting the institution of an innings limit) & him just not quite getting enough of an opportunity @ the big league level in 2019. Back to Wright, he was drafted not long ago as an advanced college arm w/ upside. He's about to break out & realize his potential.

- For the bullpen I'm going to go w/ Max Fried. While I still have hopes for him in the starting rotation I fear that his latest finger issue (thankfully a cut instead of a blister) is going to slow his progression toward SP readiness just enough for him to miss out on inclusion in either Gwinnett's or ATL's rotation @ that start of the year. So, the club will see his 32.7% K% out of the big league pen from last year & place him there coming out of ST. He will settle into the role so nicely that he'll go on to be Hader2.0 in 2019 w/ nearly 80 IP out of the pen & a fWAR over 2. Please consider that Fried & Hader might possibly be clones - virtually the same build, 2.5 months difference in age, similar repertoires from the left side [live, high 90s heat (Fried topped out @ 98.3 mph last year), Fried's breaking pitch might even be better than Hader's, & a change that's above average to plus (Fried gets better marks for command)], etc.

So, I'm certainly being optimistic, but I feel that's what I was going after here. Note I also went w/ two of the older arms that s/b closing in on the end of their development windows. So, I don't feel like I was guessing blindly. Please share yours thoughts on my choices & provide your own in the comments section below.

This FanPost does not express the views or opinions of Battery Power.