Darius Vines named AFL Pitcher of the Week

It didn’t take long for Darius Vines to leave his mark on the Arizona Fall League. After debuting for Salt River on Oct. 18, the 25-year-old righty tossed 5.2 innings of one-run ball against Surprise, striking out nine batters while not issuing a single walk.

Vines got a late start to the AFL compared to some of his fellow Braves farmhands, as he spent much of the earlier part of the month with Atlanta as they made a postseason push.

Much like his AFL tenure this year, Vines regular season was also delayed, except this time it was due to a nagging shoulder injury that kept him sidelined until June.

Once he finally took the mound, Vines dominated at Triple-A Gwinnett, posting a 2.37 ERA across 49.1 innings. That performance earned him a promotion to the big league club in late August. During the last month-plus of the season, Vines made two quality starts with three appearances out of the bullpen. Overall, the righty spun a 3.98 ERA in 20.1 innings and will be one of multiple candidates vying for one of the final rotation spots going into spring training in 2024.