Tyrell Jenkins: Should Atlanta Braves Promote Prospect?

With Mike Foltynewicz likely out the rest of the season due to blood clots in his throwing arm, would the Atlanta Braves be smart to promote Tyrell Jenkins?

Two days ago, Tyrell Jenkins and Mallex Smith were on hand at Turner Field to receive their oganizational Player of the Year Awards from the Atlanta Braves. Moreover, on the following day, news broke that Braves’ starting pitcher Mike Foltynewicz was hospitalized for blood clots in his right arm.

Tyrell Jenkins, acquired this past offseason from the St. Louis Cardinals, pitched superbly this season for the Double-A Mississippi Braves, which prompted him to get promoted to the Triple-A Gwinnett Braves. Across two levels of minor league ball, Jenkins pitched to the tune of a 3.19 ERA; however, he still needs to work on his command.

MLB Pipeline projects Tyrell Jenkins to be MLB-ready by 2016, but should he get the call before the end of this season to get some invaluable playing time under his belt? Jenkins was, by far, the best pitcher in the Atlanta Braves’ farm system. With Jenkins already being a part of the 40-man roster, the Braves could easily promote the youngster and get him some quality innings before next season.

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It should come to no one’s surprise that the Braves’ bullpen has struggled mightily this season, with Arodys Vizcaino being the lone asset this season. If the team decided to promote Tyrell Jenkins, he could slot seamlessly into the middle of their bullpen and log some innings before season’s end.

It should be noted that Jenkins was shut down near the end of August due to some arm fatigue; however, he made his return to the mound on September 4th and pitched 1.2 innings of scoreless ball, giving up just one hit. It was nice to see Jenkins return to the mound before the AAA season ended, as it surely would have been a concern if he was shut down for the remainder of the season.

Still, the fact remains that the biggest issue with promoting Tyrell Jenkins for the final two weeks of the season is that he has already pitched 138.1 innings this season between both AA Mississippi and AAA Gwinnett. Coming off season ending surgery 2013, Jenkins pitched more this season than he ever has, and the organization may believe that is his limit for the time being. Even if he was used out of the bullpen, the Braves may not want to risk injury to one of their top prospects.

Tyrell Jenkins does not possess overpowering stuff nor does he have elite control, but he could provide a boost to a poor bullpen for the remainder of this season. Although Jenkins would not accumulate a lot of innings under the final stretch of the season, the innings he would pitch in would boost his confidence heading into the 2016 season.

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