Smoltz To The DL

Written by Colin on April 29, 2008 – 6:25 pm

John Smoltz was placed on the 15-day DL today after his shoulder was examined and biceps tendinitis was discovered.  Smoltz, who had issues with control and speed in his last start in New York, visited Dr. James Andrews in Birmingham, who found a very inflamed biceps tendon and also inflammation in his rotator cuff.

This is Smoltzie’s second trip to the DL this season - and leaves Tim Hudson to ace the staff while Smoltz is recovering.  The Braves hope that a few weeks now will let Smoltz finish out the season strong, assuming the inflammation doesn’t come back.  The problem with that is I’m not 100% confident it’ll go away - it’s been an issue on and off now since the end of last season.

Can the Braves win without Smoltz?  It’s a good question. We need him and Hudson at the top of the pitching staff in order to allow Jurrjens and whatever other starters are healthy to anchor the back end of the rotation.  The good news is that Glavine is ready to pitch tonight and was activated from the DL as Smoltz went down.  Hampton is scheduled to make a start at AAA Richmond tomorrow and may be activated immediately after that if he can stay in one piece.

Not good for the Braves’ starting rotation, which has seen much more turbulence this season that previously expected.  We’ll keep you posted as we hear more.

Tags: John Smoltz, Mike Hampton, Starting Rotation, Tim Hudson
Posted in Injuries |

2008 Rotation Thoughts

Written by Jonathan on March 17, 2008 – 11:51 am

Braves.com eluded towards the Braves starting rotation for the beginning of the season in an article yesterday, saying that Tim Hudson was in line to lead the Braves against the Nationals in the season opener on March 30th.  This would leave John Smoltz to make the start in the home opener against the Pirates on the following day.

As of now, there have been no official announcements from Bobby Cox or the Braves organization, but signs are pointing towards the starting rotation being Hudson, Smoltz, Glavine, Hampton and the currently undecided fifth spot.  This would be the second time in the past three years that Hudson would get the honors of leading off the season for the Braves.

Personally, I’d like to see the rotation pan out this way for a couple of reasons:  First of all, it would allow John Smoltz to pitch the home opener, which I’m sure fans at the game would love to see.  Secondly, this would leave Smoltz to finish out the series against the Mets in the first weekend of the season.  Either way, we should expect to see Smoltz and Hudson in the final two games of that series.

More to come on the starting rotation as we hear it and when we finally have an official announcement from the Braves as to who the starting five will be.

Tags: John Smoltz, Starting Rotation, Tim Hudson
Posted in Speculation |

Who’s Number One? Smoltz or Hudson?

Written by Colin on February 18, 2008 – 7:26 am

As the pitching rotation continues to shake out, Bobby Cox has to decide whether John Smoltz or Tim Hudson is going to be the rotation ace and start opening day.  Now, I wrote the last article on this and I thought that Smoltz was going to be the ace - simply because it’s tradition at this point.  However, Smoltz said over the weekend that he thought Hudson should take the #1 spot.  Hudson claims Smoltz just doesn’t want to pitch against the Nationals in the first game of the season.

Who should be the ace?  Not that it really matters who is #1 and who pitches #2, but let’s argue both sides. Read more »

Tags: John Smoltz, Starting Rotation, Tim Hudson
Posted in General |