It probably won\u2019t come to fruition because there\u2019s a good chance the Atlanta Braves find a trade partner. They\u2019re not in the market to help out the New York Mets in any way right now. Trades between these organizations can happen. A year after each won the same amount of games and the rivalry is as bloodthirsty as ever, lending a helping hand just isn\u2019t sensible for either ball club.<\/p>\n
The Braves managed to finally awaken from their long offseason slumber on Thursday by signing Jurickson Profar to a three-year deal. In order to do so, they cleared a roster spot belonging to Connor Gillispie.<\/p>\n
Gillispie was an early free agent signing by the Braves this offseason signed to a David Stearns specialty: the split contract. He\u2019d make one salary at the MLB level and another as a minor leaguer. Because the 27-year-old does have two minor league options remaining, he\u2019s someone to bury on the Triple-A pitching staff and viewed as a depth piece. So why him and not somebody else?<\/p>\n
Gillispie appears moldable and at this point of his career, a candidate that could benefit from a different set of advice. He began his professional career in 2019 with the Baltimore Orioles pitching exclusively in relief. Upon the return of minor league baseball in 2021, he was a starter occasionally, too. This isn\u2019t anything unique. Minor league usage of pitchers and position players is more of a mad science project than an actual indication of what they\u2019ll look like in the majors.<\/p>\n
It was last year when Gillispie finally got his taste of major league ball. Limited to 8 innings with the Cleveland Guardians, he appeared in 3 games and had a 2.25 ERA. Walks were a bit of an issue but that hasn\u2019t been the case in his minor league career. Down on the farm, he\u2019s averaging 3.5 walks per 9 which isn\u2019t an extreme. Strikeouts have come at a rate of 9.1 per 9.<\/p>\n
Slow to move through the minor league system, Gillispie didn\u2019t hit the proverbial Triple-A wall we\u2019ve seen many highly-coveted Mets pitching prospects do. His walk rate ticked up to 3.8 per 9 but his strikeouts increased along with it to 9.5 per 9. The big killer for him last season was serving up 1.7 home runs per 9.<\/p>\n
A rather tame pitch selection in which he relied mostly on his fastball in his limited time at the major leagues last year (and he\u2019s not a particularly hard-thrower), it\u2019s easy to see how teams could be swayed away from him. He\u2019s at a crossroads of his career where he has reached the major league level but has yet to establish himself as a guy anyone seems willing to commit a roster spot to. He\u2019s far more intriguing, in my opinion, than Dylan Covey whom the Mets signed to a split contract early in the offseason. This is partially due to being several years younger as well as the fact that he has minor league options left. In a heartbeat, I\u2019d swap the more established Covey for the mystery of what Gillispie might be able to offer.<\/p>\n It probably won\u2019t come to fruition because there\u2019s a good chance the Atlanta Braves find a trade partner. They\u2019re not in the market to help out the New York Met<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":28819,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28818","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"\n