Braves can never have too much pitching

You can never have too much pitching.

Rinse. Repeat.

You can never have too much pitching.

This has been the mantra the Atlanta Braves have lived by since they began a rebuilding process in October 2014. They used it once before, 30 years ago, and it worked perfectly. So why would they not stress pitching in trying to get back on track?

The work done so far has paid off, as the Braves’ farm system is ranked as the best in baseball. Mike Foltynewicz is one of the young pitchers acquired in one of the many trades the Braves have made, and he’s in Atlanta’s rotation. Another one, Sean Newcomb, made his debut last Saturday.

So, we are starting to see the fruits of their labor with the young pitchers slowly filtering to Atlanta. There are more to come, with each level of the minor leagues filled with legitimate major league pitching prospects.

In fact, some could make the case the Braves have enough pitching prospects, and that it would behoove them to be more balanced in their approach moving forward. It’s not like they’ve ignored position players, as the focus on international prospects has been more on potential offensive prospects.

The draft has been pitching-heavy for two straight years. In 2015, 12 of Atlanta’s first 14 picks were pitchers. Then last year, the Braves took pitchers with six of their first seven and 10 of their first 15 picks.

With the fifth pick in the draft this year, the Braves were in position to get another good prospect. For weeks, several position players had been linked to the Braves, but then last Friday night the Braves got lucky.

Kyle Wright had been linked to the Minnesota Twins, who had the first overall pick, for weeks. Then Friday night, word leaked the Twins were considering Louisville first baseman Brendan McKay. That presented the possibility that Wright would fall to Atlanta.

Well, that’s exactly what happened. The Twins wound up taking Royce Lewis, a high school athlete from California. The Reds at two and the Padres at three had already made their decisions. All the Braves had to worry about was Tampa Bay at four, but they took McKay.

And so, Monday night, when the Braves made their pick, it was a no-brainer. Even with all their pitching depth in the minor leagues, even with the possibility of a logjam, the Braves selected Wright, a tall right-hander from Vanderbilt with a mid-90s fastball and a great curveball.

Why? Well, you can never have too much pitching.

Pitching is currency. We know all these pitching prospects won’t make it. Some will simply fail. Some will get hurt. Some will get traded. And that’s the important part. When the Braves make trades, they must have pitchers to offer in deals. The more you have available, the more you can keep.

Teams make deals all the time that deplete their farm system. The Braves are going to be in position to make major trades and not be devastated by it. Some teams must reload in the draft to compensate for prospects they’ve traded. Not the Braves. They’ll already have the reserve in house.

There is no better word for a general manager than “options.” The more options a GM has, the better chance he can make his roster competitive. Now that Braves GM John Coppolella will add college baseball’s best pitcher to his farm system, his options just expanded substantially.

Analysts project Wright to possibly develop into a second or third starter, with the potential to be even better. Whatever he becomes, his value strengthens Atlanta’s farm system even more — just when you didn’t think it could get much better.

The Braves will get more position players in this draft, but they’re able to even more now that they’ve added a huge piece in Wright. He could be in Double-A as quickly as next year, and an appearance in Atlanta in 2019 is very possible.

The rebuilding process for the Braves just took another big step forward with the selection of Wright. But even with him, expect the Braves to still look for more arms. They know, more than anyone, you can never have too much pitching.

This story was originally published June 13, 2017 at 7:24 PM with the headline "Braves can never have too much pitching."