23-year-old John Gant made the Braves’ Opening Day roster after making five solid appearances for the club during spring training. He gave up four runs on 10 hits and two walks with 10 strikeouts in 11 1/3 innings.
Coming through the Mets’ and Braves’ minor league systems, Gant showed some decent stuff, an ability to miss bats while not walking too many hitters. As the minor leagues aren’t nearly as well-covered as the major leagues, the most interesting facet about Gant flew under the radar: his delivery.
As you can see from his appearance on Wednesday against the Nationals, Gant moves his left foot on the mound a few times, picks up his leg, puts it down again, then picks it up again and throws normally. As Braves broadcaster Joe Simpson explains, “it’s not a balk because he does it the same way every time.” Simpson also explains Gant’s “Vulcan” change-up, in which he holds the baseball between his middle and ring fingers. Pretty cool.
[mlbvideo id="576962683" width="600" height="336" /]
