If Ryan Weber seems like the forgotten man in the Braves' rotation battle, well, sometimes he is.
"You go down the list and 'Oh, you forgot Weber,'" said manager Fredi Gonzalez. "(But) he got his feet wet last year a little bit and he can help us."
It was the reality of where the Braves found themselves amid a 95-loss season that they had to rely upon inexperienced pitchers.
Twelve made their MLB debuts in 2015, highly touted arms like Matt Wisler and Manny Banuelos, but the Braves also received valuable contributions from players who didn't exactly show up on top prospect lists.
Like Weber, who opened the season in Double-A Mississippi and ended it with five starts in Atlanta, where the right-hander went 0-3 with a 4.76 ERA. But he had three outings in which he gave up one run or less, including Oct. 1 against the National when he struck out 10 and allowed one run on five hits in seven innings.
"He's a guy that doesn't light up the radar gun, he's not throwing 95, 96, but he gets people out," Gonzalez said. "He can field his position. He can command his fastball and secondary pitches."
But does he have a place in the new world order of Atlanta's pitcher hierarchy?
It became social media fodder when FanGraphs in November released its list of the franchise's top prospects -- with Weber fifth. However he didn't make another of the rankings used for FOXSportsSouth.com's composite top 20 and didn't make the cut.
Weber's case wasn't helped by the acquisitions of left-handers Sean Newcomb (No. 2 prospect) and Kolby Allard (fifth) and righties Aaron Blair (fourth) and Chris Ellis (16th).
He entered spring training as a dark horse to make the rotation alongside Julio Teheran, Bud Norris and Wisler, fighting for one of the final two spots with Blair and Tyrell Jenkins -- who are believed to be the farm hands that are closest to the majors -- veteran Kyle Kendrick, and the likes of Williams Perez and Manny Banuelos .
"(It's) just knowing I have to work that much harder to earn that spot and it's not going to be given to anyone," Weber said. "Whoever is there on Opening Day really earned it and deserves to be out there."
Weber even pitching in Turner Field last year was surprising. After Banuelos and Mike Fotlynewicz were sidelined, Weber received the call, debuting Sept. 8 against in Philadelphia, where he allowed two runs on four hits over six innings.
There were hiccups, most glaringly Sept. 25 at Miami when Weber lasted just two innings in getting tagged for seven runs on nine hits with zero strikeouts. But the successes came via a sinker that sits at 88-92 mph and generated a 61.9 percent groundball rate.
If he can't find a spot in the rotation, the Braevs could always use Weber as the long-relief option of the bullpen and a spot starter (think the way they used David Hale in 2014). Either way, he believes he's done enough to show he belongs.
"I just stuck to my game plan and threw my sinker and knew that I could get people out and really not going to change and do anything extra," he said. "I'm 100 percent positive I can do it throughout the season."
Follow Cory McCartney on Twitter @coryjmccartney and Facebook. His book, 'Tales from the Atlanta Braves Dugout: A Collection of the Greatest Braves Stories Ever Told,' comes out April 12, 2016.
