Ian Anderson Struggled With Control All Season

The Atlanta Braves designated starting pitcher Ian Anderson for assignment Sunday. Anderson will try to find the form that made him one of the teams best pitchers in the last two postseasons. Anderson leads baseball in walks this season with 53 in 105 2/3 innings.

Anderson’s demotion complicates Atlanta’s plans for its staff, specifically with Spencer Strider. Strider is currently at 87 innnings pitched, and he has never thrown more than 94 in any season. With Anderson trying to find his form at AAA Gwinnett it becomes more difficult to limit his innings or send him to the bullpen.

Jake Odorizzi Must Step Up For Atlanta

When the Braves acquired Jake Odorizzi it looked as if he would be a bonus for the staff. He would be a sixth starter down the stretch who might give a break to Strider. Now he needs to have better starts than he had Saturday in New York against the Mets.

Odorizzi, along with the rest of the staff, needs to go deeper in games to keep stress off the Braves bullpen. The Braves still have one of the top bullpen ERAs in baseball, but it struggled versus the Mets over the weekend as the starters failed to go more than five innings in three of the five starts. Asking any teams bullpen to pitch four innings plus a game is a recipe for a losing streak. The Braves do have some cushion in the wild card race but if they want to catch the Mets and make another deep postseason run Odorizzi, and the other starters, must step up.

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