5th Starter

5th Starter

chipperboy1

Coming out of Spring Training, I thought that we had the best pitching staff, from 1-5, in the Major Leagues. Actually, I thought 1-6 would be more appropriate. Smoltz was obviously the #1, after that it was Hudson, James, Davies, Redman, and Cormier. I thought that the signing of Redman in the wake of the Hampton injury was another classic John Schuerholz move reminiscent of the Jaret Wright waiver claim. I thought that if one of our starters went down, we’d have more than enough help to keep us with 5 starters in order to fill the rotation.

I thought wrong.

The Redman signing, so far, has been a colossal bust that is more reminiscent of an Albie Lopez-type deal than a Jaret Wright deal. And it isn’t because the Braves haven’t been giving him run support either. It’s been his ability not to hold a lead, and his penchant of allowing too many men to reach base. He can’t seem to pitch consistently. Now, this isn’t really Bobby’s fault, JS’s fault, Roger’s fault, or anybody else associated with the Braves fault except Redman. I think he didn’t have the right mindset to pitch coming into the year, which you definitely need when playing for the Braves.

Now, the question is, who replaces him? It’s obvious that he needs to be dropped, and he’ll probably end up being released. Well, Cormier is the obvious answer. But say he pitches poorly coming off the DL, which has happened before (don’t get me wrong, I want him to pitch well). Who replaces him in case that occurs? Here are my options:

1. Oscar Villarreal, partly because of the fact that he is our innings reliever who can do a solid job in starting if needed. He didn’t pitch badly last night either.

2. Anthony Lerew, probably because of the fact that he’s done it before.

3. Matt Harrison, because he has been so dominant down in the minors the last few years and has been compared to the next Tom Glavine.

4. Pick up another Pitcher through FA or Trade. It was rumored during Spring Training (on pure speculation) that we’ve been interested in Carl Pavano, but I seriously doubt JS would be willing to do that, and the fact that the Yankees pitching staff has been dropping like flies doesn’t really help that cause either. Maybe a Brian Lawrence-type could be intriguing for JS. It’s been mentioned before. They could drop Redman and pick up Lawrence.

5. Another minor-league pitcher that I forgot to mention could be used here. I couldn't think any more off the top of my head.

I honestly hope that Cormier comes off the DL perfectly healthy and in good form, but I just wanted to give some options as to what is after him.

What do you all think? Post your feedback on Braves-Report.com