King of the Moment – OurSports Central

July 4, 2022 – International League (IL) – Gwinnett Stripers News Release

The last 12 months of pitcher Nolan Kingham’s career have been a roller-coaster.

In June 2021, the right-hander cruised through the Double-A South, going 3-0with a microscopic 0.83 ERA over five starts with the Mississippi Braves. Over his final 27.0 innings with the M-Braves he allowed no runs. Kingham’s opponents simply had no chance.

The baseball world took notice. Kingham was named Double-A South June Pitcher of the Month by MiLB.com, pushed his way on to the Atlanta Braves’ Top 30 Prospects list produced by MLB Pipeline, and earned a promotion to Triple-A Gwinnett on June 29.

But it did not last.

Kingham’s Stripers debut against the Durham Bulls yielded no celebrations as he was tagged for six runs over 3.1 innings in a loss. The next week, he made his first two starts at Coolray Field, but was handed two more losses by the Nashville Sounds. He continued to scuffle through July and early August, and was 0-5 with a 10.13 ERA in his first seven Triple-A games. The Braves decided to send him back to Mississippi on August 17.

“Coming up here in Triple-A, there were a few adjustments I had to make. I wasn’t quite figuring it out. But it is what it is,” Kingham said.

“In Mississippi, [Kingham] had velocity,” said Stripers’ pitching coach Mike Maroth. “When he came here, I don’t know if it was just later in the year, but his stuff wasn’t quite the same. When you have that big of a drop off in stuff, it affects your performance. He grinded with what he had, but it dropped off to like 90, top-ping out at 92 – a significant drop in his stuff.”

Kingham made one more start upon his return to Mississippi – a seven-inning gem against Montgomery for the win on August 20 – before hitting the injured list. When he returned to the mound on September 14, it was in a much different role. He came out of the bullpen late in a two-run game against Chattanooga, working a scoreless eighth and ninth for his first save since 2018.

That’s right – Nolan Kingham, closer.

It was Kingham’s first relief appearance since his professional debut in 2018, when he made nine non-starts for the Rookie-level Danville Braves and locked down one save.

He pitched the ninth in Chattanooga again three days later and retired the side in order, recording his second save. The M-Braves had officially punched their ticket to the Double-A South Championship Series, and Kingham was locked in as the team’s new closer.

In the…