A familiar foe of the Braves has signed on to provide some organizational pitching depth, something Atlanta has sorely needed.
Tanner Roark has signed a Minor League deal with the Braves, per source.
— Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) May 10, 2021
Roark looked destined for stardom after his rookie year in 2013, going 7-1 for the Nationals while posting a 1.51 ERA and 0.931 WHIP over 53.2 IP. He continued to play pretty well for Washington, notching a 2.85 ERA in 2014 before experiencing a down year with a 4.38 ERA in 2015. However, he bounced back in 2016 to the tune of a 2.83 ERA.Â
Over that span, Roark was a big-time innings-eater on top of being very effective. His play fell off and got progressively worse from 2016 onward, but he continued to be a solid fifth starter that came out and pitched 180+ innings per season. Roark then bounced around from the Reds, Athletics, and Blue Jays, playing pretty poorly for the most part. Toronto released him on May 3rd in the final year of a two-year, $24 million contract. I don’t expect Roark to be the pitcher he was back in 2013, but if he can be effective and eat some innings out of the ‘pen or in spot starts, this should be a decent signing. It’s worth noting, Roark fared pretty well against the NL East.
vs Braves — .658 OPS allowed
vs Marlins — .734 OPS allowed
vs Phillies — .730 OPS allowed
vs Mets — .640 OPS allowed
vs Nationals — .381 OPS allowed
If Roark can keep that up, he can be effective for the Braves, who just got back to .500 in a very competitive NL East.
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