First of all, Darren O'Day is still alive?! Well, damn. You learn something new everyday, huh?
Anyway...on a more serious note. I agree on the usage of McHugh. More multi-inning appearances in high leverage or coming into "we can win this game" after a 4 or 5 inning outing from a starter would be nice and preferable to the half-inning "bail'em out" usage. That said, if another multi-inning/high leverage type is added between a loser from the rotation battle, trade or free agent signing then I'm all good with whatever usage McHugh takes on as long as he's pitching in important games rather than eating innings in blowouts which really should be reserved for a long reliever.
Note that I didn't say Jackson Stephens there. While I'm not saying Jackson Stephens should be pitching in high leverage situations primarily, he's the guy I would want Snitker (barring a righty relief addition like an Ottovino or comparable) to turn to for those little half-inning bail outs where a righty is needed to finish something a starter can't. The problem with Stephens as a starter was that lefties killed him. They still do. Ideally, he should never see one aside from when he's pitching in games that are far out of hand. Considering he's cheap and does have some usefulness against right-handers gives him a spot, but I would definitely want to have someone push him whether that be some of the prospects you mentioned or a reunion with The Fedora who is actually a spy we deploy to destroy other teams' bullpens from the inside before getting DFA'd and returning to Atlanta to thrive just so we can trade him for important pieces again like real life was a copy of All-Star Baseball 2K2 when all it took to trade guys was adding up a point value and matching it to others you wanted.
Realistically, I think the Braves will add a lefty to replace Matzek's spot. Taylor Rogers stuck out to me because I have a similar fetish as AA of having former closers setup games. That guy is death to left-handers and really probably should never see a righty, but his time closing will make him expensive. Otherwise, free agents-to-be who stuck out to me recently were the guys you mentioned in passing; Zack Britton (who has been death to lefties through his career) and Brad Hand. However, perhaps my favorite new lefty target might be Matthew Boyd. Yeah...he'll probably get paid to return to a starting role next season and might want to give it a shot, but perhaps he found relief work to his liking and could be convinced to make a late-career role out of it. He's strong against lefties and his fastball/slider combo have been positive pitches in the past. If he ditches the curve and uses the change to keep hitters off the other two pitches he could be a relief weapon for a reasonable price.
First of all, Darren O'Day is still alive?! Well, damn. You learn something new everyday, huh?
Anyway...on a more serious note. I agree on the usage of McHugh. More multi-inning appearances in high leverage or coming into "we can win this game" after a 4 or 5 inning outing from a starter would be nice and preferable to the half-inning "bail'em out" usage. That said, if another multi-inning/high leverage type is added between a loser from the rotation battle, trade or free agent signing then I'm all good with whatever usage McHugh takes on as long as he's pitching in important games rather than eating innings in blowouts which really should be reserved for a long reliever.
Note that I didn't say Jackson Stephens there. While I'm not saying Jackson Stephens should be pitching in high leverage situations primarily, he's the guy I would want Snitker (barring a righty relief addition like an Ottovino or comparable) to turn to for those little half-inning bail outs where a righty is needed to finish something a starter can't. The problem with Stephens as a starter was that lefties killed him. They still do. Ideally, he should never see one aside from when he's pitching in games that are far out of hand. Considering he's cheap and does have some usefulness against right-handers gives him a spot, but I would definitely want to have someone push him whether that be some of the prospects you mentioned or a reunion with The Fedora who is actually a spy we deploy to destroy other teams' bullpens from the inside before getting DFA'd and returning to Atlanta to thrive just so we can trade him for important pieces again like real life was a copy of All-Star Baseball 2K2 when all it took to trade guys was adding up a point value and matching it to others you wanted.
Realistically, I think the Braves will add a lefty to replace Matzek's spot. Taylor Rogers stuck out to me because I have a similar fetish as AA of having former closers setup games. That guy is death to left-handers and really probably should never see a righty, but his time closing will make him expensive. Otherwise, free agents-to-be who stuck out to me recently were the guys you mentioned in passing; Zack Britton (who has been death to lefties through his career) and Brad Hand. However, perhaps my favorite new lefty target might be Matthew Boyd. Yeah...he'll probably get paid to return to a starting role next season and might want to give it a shot, but perhaps he found relief work to his liking and could be convinced to make a late-career role out of it. He's strong against lefties and his fastball/slider combo have been positive pitches in the past. If he ditches the curve and uses the change to keep hitters off the other two pitches he could be a relief weapon for a reasonable price.