Mississippi Braves All-Decade Team - Relief Pitchers

Beachy, Harper, Hursh Lamm and Vizcaino named top bullpen arms

By Chris Harris

December 19, 2019

PEARL, MS - As the decade comes to a close later this month, the Mississippi Braves are announcing their All-Decade squad from 2010 to 2019. The criteria for being named to the team are production while playing in Mississippi - weighed equally to results in major league baseball. The players

PEARL, MS - As the decade comes to a close later this month, the Mississippi Braves are announcing their All-Decade squad from 2010 to 2019. The criteria for being named to the team are production while playing in Mississippi - weighed equally to results in major league baseball. The players selected were compiled by current and former M-Braves staff, broadcasters, and the fans.

We continue with the top bullpen arms of the decade.
Brandon Beachy - A 2010 Southern League All-Star, Beachy began the decade by splitting the season between the rotation and the bullpen. The right-hander went 3-1 with a 1.47 ERA over 27 games and six starts, logging one save and posting 100 strikeouts to just 22 walks over 73.2 innings. Beachy moved to the M-Braves rotation in June, and his top performance of the season occurred on July 15 when he struck out 13 of 19 batters against the Huntsville Stars.
Over parts of five seasons at the major league level, Beachy went 14-12 over 48 games with the Braves and Dodgers, posting a 3.36 ERA with 280 strikeouts and 92 walks over 275.2 innings. Beachy was named to the 2011 Baseball America All-Rookie squad after going 7-3 with a 3.68 ERA in 25 starts that season for the Braves.
Ryne Harper - The right-hander appeared in 112 games for the M-Braves from 2013 to 2015 and went 15-9 with an impressive 2.17 ERA, logging 12 saves. He struck out 187 batters and walked just 53 over 165.2 innings. Among qualified pitchers, Harper is the M-Braves all-time leader in ERA (2.17), second in wins (15) and games (112), third in strikeouts (187), and logged 11 saves during the 2013 season.
On December 11, 2015, Harper was sent to the Seattle Mariners to complete an earlier trade for José Ramírez. Harper was called up to the majors for the first time on May 28, 2017. He was outrighted on June 17, 2017, without making an appearance. He elected free agency on November 6, 2017. In 2019, Harper was given a non-roster invitation to Minnesota Twins major-league spring training. Harper made the Twins' Opening Day roster out of spring training. He made his major league debut on March 31, 2019, against the Cleveland Indians, recording one scoreless inning of relief. He got his first career save on May 28 against the Milwaukee Brewers and finished his rookie-season 4-2 with a 3.81 ERA over 51 games with 50 strikeouts and ten walks over 54.1 innings.
Jason Hursh - The 2015 Opening Day starter, Hursh holds the M-Braves career record for innings pitched (236.0), wins (17), appearances (144), starts (41), strikeouts (240) while standing fifth in saves with 17. Over parts of six seasons in Mississippi, the free-agent is 20-19 with a 3.55 ERA over 144 games and 41 starts, logging 240 strikeouts, and 125 walks in 365.1 innings. The Madison, MS native was a 2019 Southern League All-Star and went 3-3 with a 3.45 ERA and two saves in 34 games this year.
The Braves' first-round selection in 2013 appeared in 11 games for the Atlanta Braves over 2016 and 2017, being promoted to Atlanta for the second time in 2016, he replaced the injured Bartolo Colon on the roster. Hursh posted a 1-0 record with an 8.25 ERA, eight strikeouts, seven walks over 12.0 innings in 2016 and 2017.
Mark Lamm - The 2013 Southern League All-Star is the lone member of this section that did not make a major league debut. Lamm made his mark on the franchise with the second-most appearances (114) and fourth-most saves (21) in club history. Lamm finished 7-11 with a 3.22 ERA, and 21 saves over parts of three seasons in Mississippi. The former sixth-round selection out of Vanderbilt struck out 124 and walked 61 over 114 games and 148.1 innings.
Lamm had ten saves and posted a 2.56 ERA 35 games in 2013 and earned a promotion to Triple-A Gwinnett late in the season.
Arodys Vizcaíno - Vizcaíno was traded from the Yankees to the Atlanta Braves with Melky Cabrera, Mike Dunn, and $500,000 in exchange for Javier Vázquez and Boone Logan on December 23, 2009. The hard-throwing right-hander made his way up to Double-A in 2011 and went 2-3 with a 3.62 ERA primarily as a starting pitcher, striking out 62 and walking just 18 over 15 games, eight starts, and 54.2 innings.
Vizcaíno was called up to the majors for the first time on August 10, 2011. He made his MLB debut that day, pitching in relief, walking two batters and hitting another in the ninth inning. Vizcaíno earned his first MLB win in the Braves' 2-1 extra-inning victory over the San Francisco Giants on August 16. In 17 games with the Atlanta Braves, Vizcaíno had a 1-1 record, 4.67 ERA and 17 strikeouts in 17.1 innings. After a stint with the Cubs, the Central Division club traded Vizcaino back to Atlanta in 2014, and three international signing bonus slots to the Braves for Tommy La Stella and an international signing bonus slot. In parts of seven MLB seasons, Vizcaino is 13-11 with a 3.01 ERA, 50 saves, with 218 strikeouts, 90 walks in 206 games over 194.1 innings.
Schedule of All-Decade Team Announcements:
Monday, December 16 - Starters (5)
Thursday, December 19 - Bullpen (5)
Friday, December 20 - Catchers (2)
Monday, December 22 - Infield (6)
Wednesday, December 24 - Outfield (4)