Sports Page Atlanta

The Braves send pitchers Manny Acosta and Jeff Bennett along with utilityman Omar Infante to the disabled list late last night. 

Acosta pitched well on Sunday, but strained his right hamstring trying to run to first base to avoid a double play.

Bennett hurt his right shoulder on a throw he made on Saturday.

Infante, like Acosta hurt himself on Sunday when he re-injured his right groin in the 3rd inning.  He first strained his groin on June 25th.

photo credit: Chocolatito

When Tom Glavine walked off the field on Sunday afternoon after only 16 pitches, Braves fans the world over had the same reaction…”are you kidding?” The much heralded depth of the 2008 Braves starting rotation is being tested early this season after Mike Hampton was put on the DL before his first start, and may be tested further with the uncertainty surrounding Tom Glavine’s hamstring.

So let’s play hypothetical for a bit…who fills in if these two are out for a prolonged amount of time? The contenders? Jeff Bennett, Chuck James, Jo-Jo Reyes, Buddy Carlyle, Jorge Campillo. James has proven that he doesn’t belong on a major league roster. Bennett is a “Bobby Cox guy,” but his prolonged lack of command after coming in for the injured Glavine is concerning. However, coming in cold like that when you aren’t expecting to pitch is a tough situation, so he should receive a pass on that. He’s in.

Who else? My vote goes for Campillo. He looked awesome in the two innings he pitched on Sunday, not giving up a walk or a hit while striking out three. Plus, I think for the sake of the organization, James, Reyes and Carlyle need to be getting consistent work in Richmond. The Braves have shown that these three are, in the very least, in the Braves immediate plans. They need consistent innings in AAA to continue their development. Campillo looked good, he’s already up, so there is no need to disrupt the AAA rotation with a roster move when Campillo will probably provide a similar start to what any of the AAA guys would. Again, just a hypothetical.

Those of you cynics out there taking bets on how many pitches it would take before Mike Hampton got hurt probably didn’t think it would be zero, when you saw his name penciled into the start Thursday vs. the Pirates.  However, that’s how many pitches it took…zero.  Hampton strained his left pectoral muscle while warming up in the bullpen 17 minutes before his first scheduled start in more than two years.  Jeff Bennett got the emergency start in his place and pitched nicely, giving up only two runs over four innings.  Hampton will be re-evaluated on Friday.

I heard an interesting statistic yesterday about the back of the rotation for the Braves last season. The guys in the #4 and #5 spot in 2007 (Buddy Carlyle, Lance Cormier, Anthony Lerew, Jo-Jo Reyes and Mark Redman) were a combined 22-36 with a 6.37 ERA. That’s a whole lot of mediocrity. Looking at those stats, it means the Braves, in those 58 games, had to overcome more than a six run deficit to win. That just can’t happen in 2008 if the Braves hope to make it to post-season play.

So, let’s take a look at the contenders for the back of the rotation in 2008. It’s an almost certainty that John Smoltz, Tim Hudson and Tom Glavine will be the #1 through #3 starters. That leaves six pitchers fighting it out for the final two spots. I’ll place them in order of likelihood to earn the last two rotation spots.

1. Mike Hampton - Yes, he tweaked his groin and is going to miss his scheduled start tomorrow. But, he’s going to throw a simulated game and even though the injury scares most people, Hampton really is putting together a mighty nice spring. He hasn’t given up an earned run and has two strikeouts and a walk in 3.1 innings. If he gets back on track and only misses his next start, keeps pitching the way he’s been so far, he’ll win the #4 spot.
2. Jair Jurrjens - There has been as much hype surrounding Jurrjens lately, than any other Braves pitcher. He’s been electric so far with a 2-0 record in three starts. His ERA is 1.00 and he has four strikeouts to only two walks in nine innings of work (the most by any Braves hurler). It probably wouldn’t hurt Jurrjens to get a little more seasoning pitching in Richmond, but if he’s throwing like this, he’ll make it impossible for the Braves to send him down.
3. Buddy Carlyle - Carlyle is 1-0, but his ERA is a little on the high side (5.14) after getting touched up by Cincinnati last week. Up until that point he was pitching close to flawlessly. One thing to be optimistic about is Carlyle’s strikeout to walk ratio. In seven innings of work he has logged seven strikeouts and zero walks. It’s ratio’s like that that make pitching coaches very happy.
4. Jo-Jo Reyes - In two starts, Reyes has a 4.50 ERA as he’s given up an earned run in each of his two inning mound appearances this spring. A little troubling is his five walks in only four innings of work. He does have five strikeouts, but needs to get a handle on his control and bring the walks down to grab that 5th rotation spot.
5. Chuck James - James hasn’t pitched at all this spring, and isn’t schedule to pitch until later in March. Unless he gets going very soon, his chances of a rotation spot, and even making the ballclub are in jeopardy.
6. Jeff Bennett - Bennett is in the same boat as James. He hasn’t pitched yet this spring, and is way behind the four competitors who have.

photo credit: too_thickskinned