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Thursday, April 6, 2006
Well, there’s Reitsma…
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Braves thought Blaine Boyer was ready, but he wasn’t. At least not ready for this. The Braves need relievers who can pitch back-to-back days, and they don’t want Boyer doing that yet after missing most of the spring with a sore shoulder.
Boyer was optioned to Triple-A Richmond on Thursday, after making two relief appearances in the three-game Dodgers Series, neither of them impressive.
Also, Horacio Ramirez, as expected, was placed on the 15-day DL with a pulled hamstring after he was hurt in Wednesday’s win.
To fill their spots, the Braves recalled Joey Devine from Richmond and purchased the contract of 31-year-old Ken Ray from Richmond. Ray is the journeyman from Atlanta and Roswell High who hasn’t pitched in the majors since 1999 when he had a cup of joe with the Royals. The Braves will be the 16th team he’s pitched for during a well-traveled career through minor leagues and independent leagues.
The Braves used 13 relievers in three games at L.A., and closer Chris Reitsma was the only one who was exceptional. Oscar Villarreal also did some quality work, but for the most part, the rest of the bullpen struggled just like starters Tim Hudson, John Smoltz and Ramirez (the starters had a National League-worst 11.25 ERA after allowing 23 hits and 15 earned runs in 12 innings at Dodger Stadium).
Some were surprised when Devine was left off the opening day roster, but the Braves thought Boyer was ready and liked what he could do in a setup role. Remember, while Devine had 20 strikeouts and a 2.25 ERA in 12 innings this spring, he also allowed 13 hits and four walks, and not against the greatest hitters most of the time when he was in games.
As for Boyer, the Braves obviously thought he’d do better than this: He was charged with three runs and four hits while recording just one out in Monday’s opener, and faced two batters with one walk Wednesday.
The bullpen is worn thin already, and manager Bobby Cox said the Braves needed to get some arms here that could be used in consecutive games without fear of injury.
Meanwhile, John Thomson moves into the rotation spot vacated by Horacio, who pulled his left hamstring pretty badly running out a bunt in the fourth inning Wednesday. He’s going to be out longer than 15 days, most who saw him this morning believe. He heard the muscle pop, never a good thing. That means it’s more than just a mere strain.
Thomson didn’t sound at all confident about his ability to crank out innings, which I was kind of surprised by. Asked this morning if he’d be ready to go 5 innings Monday in the home opener, he hemmed and hawed and said after two weeks out of the rotation he’s out of sorts, etc. Not what you expect to hear from a pitcher, most of whom will always put up a positive front even if they have doubts.
Oh well, and so it goes. Braves won two of three at L.A., and the lineup looks potentially better than last year. If they get Chipper and Francoeur going, it could be formidable top to bottom, especially with Renteria, McCann, Andruw and Langerhans looking as good as they have.
But that pitching staff … well, it must get better, let’s put it that way. The bullpen has a lot of holes, hence the decision to turn to a 31-year-old like “Sting” Ray, who looked good enough this spring in his five appearances with the Braves (one earned run in six innings) to open their eyes. They don’t have many other options, frankly, and they want to keep Lerew starting instead of relieving in the minors, at least for now.
So here’s to the Death Ray, No. 38 on your program. May he provide some needed relief, so the Braves don’t have to turn to Reitsma every time they run into trouble in the eighth inning.
Seriously, Reitsma looks so good right now, and you just hope Bobby doesn’t feel like he can’t turn to anyone else and ends up overusing Reitsma before the All-Star break. They can’t afford another second-half fade, not unless they go out and get another horse between now and then.
