ATLANTA -- Hurston Waldrep went to bed on Aug. 2 expecting to start for Triple-A Gwinnett the next day. The Braves hurler will enter his next start as a strong candidate for the National League Pitcher of the Month Award.
This has been an eventful month for Waldrep, who threw seven scoreless innings as the Braves claimed a 1-0 win over the White Sox on Wednesday night at Truist Park. It’s pretty incredible to see how successful Waldrep (Atlanta’s No. 7 prospect) has been since he was awoken nearly three full weeks ago and informed he’d be pitching in the Majors approximately 12 hours later.
Waldrep’s season has steadily gotten better since he awoke around 5 a.m. ET on Aug. 3 to have a car service drive him a little more than four hours from the northern Atlanta suburbs to Bristol Motor Speedway, where he served as the Braves’ pitcher once the Speedway Classic resumed around 1 p.m. ET.
Had rain not led to the game being suspended on Aug. 2, who knows how long Waldrep might have had to wait before returning to the Majors for the first time since last year’s brief, forgettable experience. He has certainly looked MLB ready while going 4-0 with a 0.73 ERA through four appearances (three starts) over 24 2/3 innings in August.
Waldrep escaped unscathed after he entered the Speedway Classic with two runners on and just one out in the first inning. He allowed one run over 5 2/3 innings in that unique relief experience. Though he has just three starts, it seems more appropriate to point out the only MLB pitchers to produce a sub-0.73 ERA over any four-start span are the A’s Jacob Lopez (0.00 ERA from July 26-Aug. 12) and the Braves’ Chris Sale (0.65 ERA from May 29-June 18).