His Face Said It All: John Smoltz Appears to Be Done

It's never fun to watch any professional player struggle and seemingly have no way to stop the bleeding. After watching seven-time all-star John Smoltz's latest and possibly last outing, it is a difficult pill to swallow.

Smoltz built a hefty résumé in his 21-year MLB career. Up until this year, he was the one of the faces of the Atlanta Braves franchise, a team known for their string of 14 straight division titles with teams built around pitching.

When you think Atlanta Braves, you think pitching. Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, and John Smoltz formed one of the most formidable front threes of any team in the 1990s.

It wasn't just the fact that the Braves were successful. Smoltz was successful, even when all odds were against him.

Trust me, that was more often than not. After undergoing four elbow surgeries, he still battled for 212 wins and 3,044 strikeouts.

In postseason play, Smoltz was nearly untouchable, going 15-4 with a 2.65 ERA. He led Atlanta to the 1995 World Series Championship and won a 1996 Cy Young Award as well.

In 2001, coming off Tommy John surgery, Smoltz decided to give it a shot at closer; 154 saves later, I think it's safe to safe he did more than a decent job. By doing so, he became the only player in MLB history to record 200 wins, 150 saves, and 3,000 strikeouts.

This season's woes started with Smoltz coming off his fifth arm surgery. After 2008, the Atlanta Braves weren't sure Smoltz would throw again, hence the reason he was signed by the Boston Red Sox after 20 years in Atlanta.

His throwing program went better than expected, and he was back in time to help the Red Sox in the second half. This was Boston's intention the whole time, and they needed Smoltz now more than ever.

His season debut came against the MLB-worst Washington Nationals, where Smoltz didn't appear to be Smoltz. The good thing was, almost every debut Smoltz had made after surgery didn't go well, and he always returned to his solid form. However, this season it just did not appear to happen.

After allowing eight runs through three innings to the Yankees on Thursday, Smoltz got the news that he had been designated for assignment. The look on Smoltz's face as he sat in the dugout was one of pure dejection—a face many are not accustomed to seeing with Smoltz.

He allowed five or more earned runs in six of his eight starts, and even he said that he hasn't been getting the job done. "I'll be the first to say that these last few games—they all haven't been like this. This is probably the worst result game that I've pitched. You don't want to do it here," said Smoltz following Thursday's 13-6 loss to the Yankees.

Lefties raised their average off Smoltz this season to a daunting .444 clip following Thursday's game. His ERA was north of eight, and opponents were hitting .343 overall.

Is there a chance Smoltz could regain his old form? Maybe. Do the Red Sox have the option to wait around and see? Absolutely not. Smoltz is a first-class guy, and Boston is a first-class organization. It's a business, and they both understand that.

When Boston designated him for assignment Friday, Smoltz was already back at his Atlanta home. Clearing his head may be what he needed to do.

Boston GM Theo Epstein made it clear that within the next 10 days the decision is up to Smoltz on how he'd like to proceed. The bullpen is the only viable option, and he has had prior success there. He has held righties to a .232 average this year and could be used as a situational pitcher.

Either way, it's a true shame one of the greatest pitchers of the past decade won't be remembered for going out on top.

That's not to say I won't always remember him as the pitcher he was, and always will be in my mind. Smoltzie is one of the grittiest and toughest pitchers I've ever had the opportunity to watch.