With Sean Newcomb set to start Saturday’s key match-up against Philadelphia and likely on a pitch count of under 80 after having not been stretched out to start, the Braves have reached down to Gwinnett to bring up a pitcher who can potentially handle multiple innings.
The Player
Huascar Ynoa, RHP
Age: 21
OFR Prospect Rank: 18
2019 Level: AAA Gwinnett
The Results
4.87 ERA | 4.57 FIP | 14 G, 6 GS | 40.2 IP |
Minor League Career: 4.16 ERA | 3.75 FIP | 76 G, 68 GS | 316.0 IP | 4.16 BB/9 | 9.37 K/9
The History
Ynoa was a 2014 international amateur free agent signing by the Minnesota Twins, commanding an $800,000 signing bonus. Ynoa is the brother of former A’s prospect Michael Ynoa, who is currently in the Royals organization and had pitched in the majors for parts of the 2016 and 2017 seasons with the Chicago White Sox. Huascar was acquired by Atlanta just before the trading deadline in 2017 for Jaime Garcia.
Ynoa was slow-walked by the Twins through two seasons of rookie ball; that isn’t the Braves Way. Ynoa has advanced rapidly through the organization the last two seasons, starting with Rome in 2018 where in 18 starts he showed rapid improvement with control and quality of his pitches and was promoted to advanced-A Florida for August. The Braves were convinced enough that another team might poach Ynoa from the system that they added him to the 40-man roster in the offseason to avoid him being taken in the Rule 5 draft.
Ynoa returned to Florida to start 2018, but was moved up to AA Mississippi after only 3 starts. With Mississippi, Ynoa got experience in relief pitching for the first time in his pro career, the organization realizing that with the amount of injuries and ineffectiveness hitting their major league squad that Ynoa may be needed for that role. Ynoa’s first forays into relieving were mixed, but was able to show his three-pitch mix in six long-relief outings. This was good enough for the Braves to advance Ynoa to AAA Gwinnett in mid-May where he has made three starts and two relief appearances.
The Report
Ynoa is listed as 6′-3″ and 175 points and has a somewhat upright, three-quarters delivery; he has worked steadily since joining the Braves to get better extension to the plate to help his command, but this remains a work-in-progress. From a pure “stuff” standpoint, Ynoa has some of the best in the Braves farm system. Ynoa has a four-seam fastball that sits easily in the 92-94 range but has been clocked as fast as 100 mph. When it’s “on”, Ynoa has a true weapon in his change-up, which has a 10 mph difference from his fastball and has excellent movement, but Ynoa only has it for about half of his appearances. Ynoa also has a solid slider that he can use when he gets ahead in the count for swing-and-miss, but has difficulty throwing for strikes.
What’s Next
Ynoa’s placement on the 40-man roster and advancement to AAA Gwinnett always meant that a promotion was a possibility in situations that the Braves find themselves in Saturday, but Ynoa isn’t really a finished product. Look for this promotion to be a short one, but probably not the only one this season.
Long-term the team will need to determine Ynoa’s best role, and he could find himself as a starter or a key high-leverage reliever in the near future.
Leave a Reply