John Smoltz said very definitely recently that he would be returning not to the rotation, but to the bullpen when be recovers from his stinit on the disabled list. Hopefully, he will need only the 15 days set aside for his DL stay to recover from a consistently inflamed shoulder as it is not an injury that will go silently into the night, so-to-speak.
Smoltz, assuming he returns to form when he returns from the DL, will give the braves the dominant closer they have lacked. The rotation will go to Hudson, Glavine, Jurrjens, and blank, blank. As I've mentioned previously, Jo-Jo Reyes, Jeff Bennett, Jorge Campillo, Buddy Carlisle, and Chuck James are these candidates. That's five candidates to fill two spots-- not terrible odds assuming that at least two of these could work out in the rotation's back side. Then again, it's very possible that none of them work out. However, I can finally say the Reyes impressed me. In the last two years, I've cringed seeing him on the mound in the first inning. I know that I may as well cancel anything I have planned for the next five hours, because he's going to throw so many pitches by the fifth inning that at least three hours have elapsed. More walks than strikeouts will do this. But on to my point: Reyes finally showed what his potential looks like when realized. In AAA Richmond, he had a 1.17 ERA with 25 strikeouts to eight walks. Far better than the numbers he's shown the last few years, and it appears that he didn't let the promotion to the Majors change his approach. He dominated the Reds in his start. Reyes was locating his fastball, using his slider, throwing first pitch strikes; everything you want in a starter. Greater still is that he hadn't lost any velocity on his fastball. Throwing 93 MPH from the left side. Very impressive showing from Reyes. I feel he deserves this credit because I usually hate on him pretty hard. But I only report what we all see, I most certainly think that I treated him fairly in my articles. I cited fact and backed it up with stats. And I am treating him just as fairly here, as he deserves much credit for a magnificent outing against the Reds a few nights ago (he even pitched his way out of trouble). Also, give Brian McCann kudos for calling a good game and keeping Reyes in it.
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