Could we possibly see Darius Vines in the postseason?

The unheralded righty has been clutch for Atlanta in his two starts this season

Atlanta Braves pitcher Darius Vines trusted the Braves defense to make plays. He just had to keep the ball in the ballpark. 

Vines picked up his second career quality start in his second career start, going six innings with two earned runs allowed on four hits against the Cubs last night. It's an eerily similar stat line to his first big-league start, where he gave up two runs on four hits in six innings to Colorado in Coors Field, picking up his first career win on August 30th.   

In between those two outings, three different multi-inning stints out of the bullpen really helped him acclimate to the speed of the major league game and feel comfortable. 

Vines was optioned back to AAA this morning so that Atlanta could bring up AJ Smith-Shawver to start, but with the postseason approaching, is his season over or could we see him again? 

One person in particular, MLB.com's Mark Bowman, thinks he may still get another opportunity to pitch this postseason. 

Vines had a nice debut season. He’ll come to camp with a shot to win a rotation spot next year. But I guess there’s also a chance we could see him again when he starts Game 4 or 5 in the World Series https://t.co/6hqKLqoeyd

— Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) September 28, 2023

It's clear at this point in time that Atlanta has a pitching rotation problem. Charlie Morton is out for the NLDS, with the hope being that his finger sprain will heal in time for him to make the NLCS roster. Max Fried, who is currently on the injured list with an index finger blister, is expected to be available to pitch at least one of the first two games in the series.   

That leaves Bryce Elder as your game three starter for the NLDS. The only problem with that? 

He hasn't been good recently. 

Eight of Elder's last fourteen starts have seen him give up four runs or more, but there's another trend that's even more worrysome - he hasn't made it through the 4th inning in his last two outings. His ERA, which was at 1.92 to end the month of May, is all the way up to 3.81 after Tuesday's five run outing against Chicago. He's already thrown over 180 regular season innings in 2023, a 15% jump over his previous career high of 159 last year.  

What does Atlanta do if Elder struggles in the NLDS? 

Given the additional days of rest in the schedule, Elder's almost undoubtedly going to get a quick hook, but it's also possible Atlanta looks to another starter to take the ball for game four of the NLCS, if the Braves were to advance that far. 

And given Kyle Wright's struggles in trying to return from his shoulder injury that sidelined him for over three months, if Brian Snitker and company aren't comfortable with him getting a start, Vines might possibly be the guy.    

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