AJC > Blog > Archives > 2008 > April > 14
Monday, April 14, 2008
Braves should err on the side of caution
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In light of the Braves’ current pitching situation, here’s an idea: Shut down 42-year-old Tom Glavine (with a tight hamstring) and 41-year-old John Smoltz (with a sore shoulder) for two weeks and don’t even think about sending the star-crossed Mike Hampton out to the mound until May.
That won’t happen — mostly because Glavine and Smoltz wouldn’t know what to do with two weeks off in April — but maybe it should. The baseball season is a long, arduous road, and I’d rather go without those guys for a while in April than have them dealing with lingering, nagging injuries all year. It also seems like a better option than trying to trade for an upgrade from what could be perceived as a desperate position.
Granted, those could well be a rough two weeks, with some likely combination of Jorge Campillo, Jeff Bennett, Buddy Carlyle, Jo-Jo Reyes and Chuck James filling in between Tim Hudson and Jair Jurrjens. But wouldn’t that be easier to take now than in September? And with their rotation healthy, the Braves could dig themselves out of an early hole easier than they could stay in the hunt later with no arms.
What do you think? Am I crazy to subject us to a temporary rotation that features three huge question marks, or does it make some sense to you?
Completely unrelated note: If you’re going to make Bennett the long reliever, don’t bring him in for 2/3 of an inning in a 10-2 game, like Bobby Cox did on Saturday, because you might just need him to go three or four the next day, like Bobby did on Sunday.
And after Bennett gave up three runs in four innings on Sunday, Bobby said, “He got wild, I don’t know why. He just got really wild.”
And here’s the TV schedule for the next two series (let me know if this is helpful and I’ll put it at the end of each blog):
Tuesday: at Marlins, 7:10, SportSouth
Wednesday: at Marlins, 7:10, FSN South
Thursday: at Marlins, 7:10 SportSouth
Friday: vs. Dodgers, 7:30, Peachtree TV
Saturday: vs. Dodgers, 3:55, FOX
Sunday: vs. Dodgers, 1:30, SportSouth and TBS
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