Had the Braves’ rotation not been fractured over the past few weeks, Sean Newcomb may have already been moved back to the bullpen.
But with limited options, the Braves are left hoping Newcomb extends the progress he showed in the Braves’ 2-1 loss to the Blue Jays on Wednesday night at Truist Park. The lefty still hasn’t completed five innings through any of his first three starts, but he’s steadily moved closer toward reaching that modest benchmark.
“I obviously want to go out and go more than five [innings] and have a better start, but there’s definitely been progress,” Newcomb said. “The offspeed is getting better, and these have been my first three starts in over a year and a half. It’s been a little bit of an adjustment. But I think I’m starting to click again using the whole repertoire.”
Once a top pitching prospect, Newcomb debuted in 2017, made an early All-Star bid in ‘18, then was optioned to Triple-A after just three starts in ‘19. He’s 27 years old now. There may not be many more chances for him to prove himself as a starter.
And quite frankly, he may not even have this current chance had the Braves not seen Mike Soroka, Mike Foltynewicz, Cole Hamels and Félix Hernández removed from their rotation plans at various points since the start of July.
So yes, there was reason for the Braves and Newcomb to feel some satisfaction after this latest outing, in which he was charged with two earned runs and five hits over 4 2/3 innings.
“That was encouraging tonight from Newk,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “It was a lot better than his first two [starts]. So hopefully he figures some stuff out.”
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