Braves rookie offers simple reason for newfound success

Atlanta Braves rookie starting pitcher Jared Shuster revealed a fairly obvious reason as to why he has played so well recently.

The Atlanta Braves know how to develop their prospects into eventual everyday players for the major league team. We’ve seen it with third baseman Austin Riley and outfielder Michael Harris II in recent years. So it should come as no surprise that Jared Shuster has been doing tremendously recently on the mound.

On Wednesday, Shuster struck out one batter and allowed two earned runs on three hits in 5.1 innings pitched against the Oakland Athletics and the win in Atlanta’s 4-2 victory. With that, Schuster has a combined 3.68 ERA in his past four starts.

After the game, Shuster was asked how he would evaluate his progress so far this season. The rookie pitcher said, “I think I’m just throwing a lot more strikes.”

The video below comes courtesy of Bally Sports: Braves.

Jared Shuster believes progress is attributed to ‘throwing a lot more strikes’

"“I think I’m just throwing a lot more strikes,” said Shuster. “I mean, a couple of more walks today, but other than that I got some weak contact, pretty efficient. So, I think since I’ve been up, I’m just trusting myself more and being more in sync with my deliveries. It helped a lot.”"

Here is how Shuster has done in his last four starts, including his performance against Oakland on Wednesday:

• May 16 at Texas Rangers: 5.0 innings, 66 pitches, 42 strikes, three strikeouts, two walks, three earned runs, three hits
• May 21 vs. Seattle Mariners: 6.0 innings, 85 pitches, 52 strikes, seven strikeouts, one walk, one earned run, one hit
• May 26 vs. Philadelphia Phillies: 5.2 innings, 89 pitches, 57 strikes, five strikeouts, three walks, three earned runs, three hits
• May 31 at Oakland Athletics: 5.1 innings, 68 pitches, 39 strikes, one strikeout, four walks, two earned runs, three hits.

This is a bounce back from how Shuster started the season. In his first two starts, he owned an 8.31 ERA and a 2.42 WHIP. Now, after this four-game stretch, Shuster has recorded a 4.99 ERA, a 1.34 WHIP, 21 strikeouts, and 19 walks in 30.2 innings (six starts).

Shuster will look to continue this progress. His next scheduled start is set for June 7 against the rival New York Mets.