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Monday, August 29, 2005
Playoff rotation not just a worry here
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
For most of the season, Tim Hudson hadn’t quite lived up to expectations.
That’s not the case anymore.
In back-to-back complete games, the former Oakland Athletics right-hander has been every bit as good as he was at his best in the American League.
With John Smoltz and Hudson, the first two spots in the Braves’ rotation offer no worries. It’s the third spot that still must be settled on going into the playoffs.
Mike Hampton is unlikely to be available and John Thomson hasn’t pitched well since coming off the disabled list. That leaves Jorge Sosa or Horacio Ramirez as the likely No. 3 starter in the first round of the playoffs.
Neither would cause panic from Braves fans, but a victory certainly isn’t a cinch, either. Sosa has been a pleasant surprise for the Braves, but he obviously didn’t come close to the postseason with Tampa Bay. Ramirez has been good at Turner Field, but far from that on the road.
Of course, some playoff contenders — especially in the American League — don’t even have two starters that they can count on.
I was just up in Boston watching the World Series champion Red Sox and their rotation certainly wasn’t a pretty sight.
