The previous season’s injuries befell the Atlanta Braves with considerable misfortune.
The group of Max Fried, Kyle Wright, Ian Anderson, and Huascar Ynoa from 2022 saw their 453.2 innings cut down to just 108.2, with Fried accounting for the majority of that reduction. This was a particularly harsh blow to their rotation.
However, things ought to be improving in 2024 as Atlanta gets ready to welcome back Ian Anderson and Huascar Ynoa following Tommy John surgery.
Ynoa, who had surgery in September 2022, is the first pitcher scheduled to return to activity. He is now in camp and in good health. Pitchers often take 12 to 18 months to return to action.
He seems to be the underdog when it comes to starting pitching, as the only players mentioned while discussing the #5 place in the rotation are Hurston Waldrep, AJ Smith-Shawver, and free agency signing Reynaldo López.
However, Ynoa is in good health and is motivated to improve both as a player and a person from when Atlanta supporters last saw him.
The final memory most fans have of Ynoa is probably one he’d prefer to forget: on a May Sunday in Milwaukee, following a bad outing in which he gave up five runs on nine hits in just 4.1 innings, he punched a bullpen bench out of rage.
Pitching to an ERA above five and going 0–4 in ten starts, Ynoa, who was dominating a 4–1 record and 2.23 ERA at the time, lost three full months due to the injury and didn’t appear quite the same towards the end of the 2021 season. Atlanta went on to win the World Series, and Ynoa was left off the playoff roster.
After just two starts in 2022, Ynoa was optioned to AAA Gwinnett, where he struggled the entire season (5.68 ERA) before ultimately undergoing Tommy John surgery following the season.
However, as he revealed to Justin Toscano of the AJC, he has since dedicated time to improving both his physical and emotional well-being: “I think there’s some things, even off the field, that I was taking too personally, whether it be a comment or something,” Ynoa said. “And just figuring out how to handle that.”
However, it is said that Ynoa is more resilient, self-assured, and capable of handling situations calmly. After a recent bullpen, Braves manager Brian Snitker said that he has apparently looked good in the spring.
Following Ynoa’s bullpen throw last week, Snitker told reporters, “I know he looks great.”
What matters to monitor in Grapefruit League action is whether or if his stuff performs better. Ynoa was primarily a two-pitch player in 2022, using his 97 mph fastball and 85 mph slider in equal measure with only a 6% usage of a changeup.
