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Tyrell Jenkins: The Next Great Braves Pitcher?

By Jonathan Savitske

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The Atlanta Braves acquired prospect Tyrell Jenkins and pitcher Shelby Miller from the St. Louis Cardinals in a trade that the Braves’ star right fielder Jason Heyward and Jordan Walden to the Redbirds.

A two sport star, Tyrell Jenkins chose baseball over going to Baylor University to play football where he would have backed up eventual Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III. It is reasonable to assume that after Griffin left Baylor for the NFL, Jenkins would have been the heir apparent to the star quarterback.

-= Related: Atlanta Braves: Who Gets Traded First? =-

With Jason Heyward’s impending free agency at the end of the 2015 and Atlanta Braves President of Baseball Operations John Hart’s predilection to acquire young pitching, the team flipped its venerable outfielder in favoring of acquiring two high ceiling pitchers: the Major League ready Shelby Miller and the hard throwing Jenkins. Jenkins employs a four-seam fastball (effective but not overpowering), a sinker, and a slow curve.

After undergoing shoulder surgery in 2013, Tyrell Jenkins did not pitch in 2014, but has since made a full recovery. Jenkins’s play this year at the minor league level has alleviated concerns about any lingering performance issues. Tyrell Jenkins began the year at AA Mississippi and immediately made an impact. The 22-year-old right hander owned a 3.00 ERA in 93.0 innings pitched while notching a record of 5-5.

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Following his effective performance at the AA level, the Atlanta Braves promoted Tyrell Jenkins to AAA Gwinnett in early July, bringing the prospect even closer to making it to the show. In his AAA début, Jenkins pitched 7 scoreless innings and recorded 6 strikeouts in a victory over Norfolk. He also surpassed the 100 innings pitched threshold — a first in Jenkins’s young career.

Tyrell Jenkins’s efficacy this season has shown that the Atlanta Braves have yet another power arm in their stable of talented young pitchers. Top prospects Mike Foltynewicz and Matt Wisler have already made an impact at the major league level this season — and Tyrell Jenkins’ time at the big league level maybe rapidly approaching. With the possibility that John Hart may begin to shop pitchers such as Mike Minor or Alex Wood to clear the way for other prospects to join the starting rotation on a permanent basis, Jenkins may see a September call-up to give him his first taste of the big leagues.

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With pitchers like Max Fried and Tyrell Jenkins ready to make an impact perhaps as soon as next season, the Atlanta Braves starting rotation looks promising for the foreseeable future. If Jenkins is as effective at the major-league level as he has been in the minors, the trade that sent Jason Heyward to St. Louis for ace Shelby Miller and Jenkins will have been an incredible transaction by the Braves’ front-office.

For all things Atlanta Braves leading up to the trade deadline, keep it here at ATL All Day for continued updates and analysis.

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