Braves' Player Recap: Randall Delgado

The Braves' recap continues today with young starting pitcher Randall Delgado.
Delgado made his major league debut last year, and his first start was against a tough opponent, the Texas Rangers, who had just gone to the World Series the year before. He lost that game unfortunately, but that didn't take away his status. Delgado is regarded as one of the Braves' best young pitchers. He showed glimpses of that this year.
Delgado had two really good games during the season, one was on May 3rd against the Philadelphia Phillies and the other was on June 17th against the Baltimore Orioles. In both games he pitched eight innings and gave up only two runs, but due to a lack of run support, he lost both games. Delgado's worst outing came against the lowly Boston Red Sox, as he only pitched one inning and gave up four runs.
Delgado had another problem this season, he struggled giving up runs. He made 17 starts this year for the Braves, and in every game, he gave up at least one run. Out of the 17, ten of them he gave up three runs or more. That will change as he gains more experience, but it is hard for a team to stay in the game if the pitcher is giving up that many runs. Delgado finished the year with a 4-9 record, a 4.37 ERA and 76 strikeouts.
Delgado is one of the best arms in the Atlanta organization right now, so the Braves will probably keep him. If they do, he most likely will start the year in the minors to gain more experience, plus the Braves are stocked full of starting pitchers. On the other hand, the Braves want to upgrade their offense over the off-season, so they could use Delgado as trade bait to acquire a big bat.