David Hale to start against Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday

With the successful decision to move up the timetable for Alex Wood to allow him to start on Wednesday now in the rear view mirror, the Atlanta Braves were left with an open spot in the starting rotation for Saturday’s double-header against the Philadelphia Phillies. Now, we have some clarity on the situation in the form of right-hander David Hale making a spot start.

The 26-year-old Hale has been working exclusively out of the bullpen since late April, and he has been largely effective. With the exception of back-to-back disastrous outings approximately ten days ago, Hale has been consistent and lights-out, and even with those mishaps, his season-long ERA sits at a very solid 3.14 over 48.2 innings.

There is a real possibility that Fredi Gonzalez and Frank Wren could call up Gus Schlosser from triple-A Gwinnett to “back up” Hale, but that would be more of an indictment on Hale’s ability to go deep into the game after working in a relief role. Much will potentially be made about David Hale’s start in this spot, but he will likely do a respectable job, and it will be up to the remainder of the bullpen to keep things manageable.