The Atlanta Braves lock down another depth piece for the bullpen. According to his transaction page, they have signed Austin Pope to a minor league contract. He has been assigned to Triple-A Gwinnett.
It can be presumed that he will be invited to Spring Training. However, this hasn’t been formally made clear.
The 27-year-old righty has pitched in one game in the Majors. For what it’s worth, he pitched two scoreless innings for the Arizona Diamondbacks during a September call-up. He allowed two hits and a walk in that outing.
Following the season, the Diamondbacks outrighted him to Triple-A. He opted to electe free agency the same day.
Before his call-up, he had spent significant time in Triple-A. In total, he has 99 appearances at the highest level of the minor leagues. All but one game was a relief outing. The lone appearance can likely be considered an “open.”
He brings long relief experience to the table, which comes from his time as a starting pitcher in the lower levels of the minor leagues. At most, he has pitched 2 2/3 innings this season. If the Braves want to get creative, maybe he can be stretched back out if they need the rotation option. However, that’s just speculation, and it’s highly unlikely barring something crazy.
Pope finished with a 4.55 ERA in 25 appearances with Triple-A Reno last season. Despite being in the high elevations of Reno, he keeps the ball in the yard. He allows a lot of hits, with the opposition batting .291 against him. His walk rate is low, and he manages a solid strikeout rate.
He doesn’t have trouble throwing strikes (62%), but he still throws a lot of pitches (16.98 per inning). That’s fine when out of the bullpen. He’s not expected to go that many innings. However, it’s a stat that coincides with how many baserunners he typically allows.
This is the second reliever the Braves have added this month. They signed left-hander Danny Young on Tuesday to a minor league contract. They’ve added their share of bullpen help since the offseason officially got underway last month.
Of the bunch, the clear biggest move was re-signing closer Raisel Iglesias to a one-year contract worth $16 million. They’ve certainly been active, but they’ve only had a handful of notable moves so far. The upcoming MLB Winter Meetings could change that, but that is to be determined.
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