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Monday, April 21, 2008
Bottom of rotation comes alive
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
So four in a row, huh?
There was plenty to feel good about over the weekend for the bloggers and the Braves nation in general. Me? I was just trying to grab hold of something that might not have been talked about yet - so not Chipper’s bat or Chipper’s quad, not Andruw Jones whiffing, not Mark Teixeira’s bat waking up - and I came up with this:
Right there in the middle of a four-game winning streak were back-to-back-to-back wins in games pitched by the 3, 4, and 5 spots in the rotation. Here the Braves are coming off a sweep of the Dodgers and they’ve got Tim Hudson going tonight and Smoltz tomorrow night.
How often does that happen?
Well, last year, it was only once. (I know, I was surprised it was even once) but I found one: September 17-20. The Braves won four in a row - three over the Marlins and one over the Brewers. Smoltz won the first game, and then taking wins in the next three were Jo-Jo Reyes, Chuck James and Jeff Bennett.
(Come to think of it, I probably made a big deal out of that while covering some of those games last year, but what can I tell you, things fly out my head sometimes.)
This time it was Bennett - he pitched 4 2/3 scoreless innings on Friday before Will Ohman got the win - Chuck James won Saturday and yesterday it was Jair Jurrjens (who is the key to making this possible). They combined to go 2-0 with a 1.08 ERA (2 ER in 16 2/3 IP) vs. the Dodgers.
Maybe the Dodgers offense is that weak, or maybe the Braves can feel that much better about their rotation this year in spite of the injury rash. Even with Tom Glavine and Mike Hampton on the disabled list and while trying to piece together starters, the Braves put together a good run. The bullpen gets kudos for making it stick.
These are the runs they need to win the division, or the wildcard, or so that winning one time through the back of the rotation isn’t simply too-little-too-late in September.
The Braves put together winning streaks of more than three in a row only fives times last year - and the longest winning streak was five games.
They can match that tonight with Hudson vs. Matt Chico of the Nats, and then top it Tuesday with Smoltz vs. John Lannan. Just over a week ago in DC, those match-ups netted the Braves back-to-back wins by a total of 13-2.
Of course, there was something mystifying going on with Hudson’s velocity in his last outing in Florida. A lot of eyes will be on the speed-of-pitch indicator tonight (including my own), and that has to make this start amazingly pressure-filled for Hudson. But maybe it really was just malaise from the flu bug he had. We shall see.
In the next couple of (ok Biff?) days, I’ll also be keeping an eye on Chipper’s quad, Matt Diaz’s playing time, the rehabbing of all the M.A.S.H. boys, oh yeah and Smoltz coming up on a certain milestone.
One last aside - which I thought of while reading about Jimmy Rollins going on the DL yesterday with a sprained ankle. When the heck are the Braves going to play the Phillies? They’re going round No. 2 with the Nationals and Marlins and Mets this week and won’t face the Phillies for the first time until May 13-15. Can’t really say I get that.
Anyway, heading off into the beautiful spring afternoon. Perhaps the Ted will be filled accordingly these next few games.
