Former Wiregrass Ranch Star Making First Start Today

Former Wiregrass Ranch High star right-handed pitcher John Gant will make his first major league start today, and it won’t be an easy one.

Gant is scheduled to face lefty John Lester and the first-place Chicago Cubs Sunday at Turner Field. The Cubs, managed by former Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon, are 42-18, the best record in baseball.

The game is at 1:35 p.m. and can be seen on WGN-TV.

Gant, 23, has been back-and-forth this season between Triple A Gwinnett and Atlanta, having been recalled four times, including twice this week.

In seven relief appearances with the Braves this season, he has a 6.17 ERA, but in seven starts at Gwinnett he was 3-0 with a 3.15 ERA and 48 strikeouts in 43 innings.

Gant, who was 6-0 with a 1.9o ERA as a senior at Wiregrass Ranch in 2011, was drafted in the 21st round by the New York Mets. He was traded in 2015 to the Braves — his favorite team as a boy — and has moved up Atlanta’s minor league ladder swiftly.