Don Sutton breaks down Braves’ pitching staff

Hall of Fame pitcher and Braves announcer Don Sutton likes what he sees in the Braves rotation. He takes us through starter by starter:

• Derek Lowe: “He’s going to throw you 1,000 groundballs and keep you in the ballgame every day.”

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Rich Addicks/raddicks@ajc.com

Braves announcer Don Sutton says he thinks top pitching prospect Tommy Hanson (above) is ready to be part of the rotation.

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SEASON PREVIEW

• The rotation | Spring stats
• Sutton's take on the staff
• Q&A with Derek Lowe
• More: The outfield | Murphy's take
• The infield | Lemke on infield

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• Jair Jurrjens: “He has already shown you he can dominate.”

• Javier Vazquez: “I’d like to see him speed up his tempo a little bit. He’s capable of throwing strikes and eating innings.”

• Kenshin Kawakami: “I watched him pitch, and it was like watching a [Greg] Maddux, or a guy like that who understands the art of pitching and he’s not going to beat himself.”

• Tom Glavine: “He is like the old war horse. He’s not going to lead the charge into battle, but you know before the battle’s over, he’s going to do something to help you win it. So I love having him as part of the equation.”

• Wildcard pick: Sutton thinks Tommy Hanson is ready to be in the mix from the start.

“I think if you can pitch in the big leagues, whether you’re 17, 21, 24 or 30, you ought to be pitching in the big leagues. The economics of it — I don’t know how any of that works, but I have seen enough of Tommy Hanson to think I would love him running out there for me every fifth day.

“I know there are a lot of factors that go into it, and they’re looking long range, but I just think when you talk to him and you listen to him and when you see him work, just throw the calendar out the window, throw experience out the window. I would think to myself do I want him going 7-0 in Gwinnett or 5-1 in Turner Field?”