Atlanta Braves Rotation in 2009

The Braves outlook for 2009 is pretty grim. With optimistic outlooks being around a .500 record. I personally think our rotation is solid. And with one big bat (Manny?? just kidding), I think we could contend.

The anchor for our rotation for the first part of the year will obviously be Derek Lowe. He is an innings eater, pitching at least 180 innings per season since 2002. I prefer Derek Lowe to A.J. Burnett, as Burnett is too much of an injury concern. With Lowe, you know will be there the majority of the season.

The number two guy looks to be Javier Vasquez; also an innings eater. He has pitched over 200 innings in 8 of his 11 seasons. He has never been a stud with his best year a 16-11 3.42 ERA in 2001.

The concern for him is his big game ability. He was criticized heavily by Chicago White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen last season. The question is, if we do get into a pressure game can the great Bobby Cox get him past his big game problems?

As for the number three man, it is a toss up between Jair Jurrjens and Kenshin Kawakami. For this article I will say the man with MLB experience, Jair Jurrjens, is the number three man.

He had a great rookie year last year after coming over in a trade that sent Edgar Renteria to Detroit. He ended the year with an impressive 3.68 ERA. He had a 2-1 strike outs to walks ratio and the outlook for him is very bright in '09.

So that leaves the number four spot to Kenshin Kawakami. His 10-years with the Chunichi Dragons were pretty consistent but he didn't have any blow away numbers. My hope is that the players will have to adapt to his pitching style, leading to early success.

And finally the number five spot goes to Enter name here. We have a flurry of options for the number five spot. We can go with the minor league phenom Tommy Hanson, the surprise from last year in Jorge Campillo, the promising looking youngster Charlie Morton, or the disappointing Jo-Jo Reyes.

Whoever we go with, I think won't stay in the number five spot for an extended period of time. I think it will be like last year with a different guy almost every week. The bright spot there for me is Tommy Hanson who will most likely be a 1-3 guy in two to three years.

Wait. Am I forgetting someone? Oh yeah, Tim Hudson. He is expected to be back in early August. That's about halfway through the season and if he comes back strong then I think our rotation can be a top of the line.

With every one bumped back a spot, it would give Tommy Hanson some growing up time in the minors or let him gain some valuable experience in the bullpen.

So, to me, our rotation can be great.

1st half of the year --

1. Derek Lowe

2. Javier Vasquez

3. Jair Jurrjens

4. Kenshin Kawakami

5. Tommy Hanson/ Jorge Campillo/ Jojo Reyes/ Charlie Morton

2nd half of the year --

1. Tim Hudson

2. Derek Lowe

3. Javier Vasquez

4. Jair Jurrjens

5. Kenshin Kawakami