Well, even though the starting pitching situation has waded in and out between panic and pleasure, the bullpen has been solid over the past month. I guess I really can’t complain when we have one of the top two or three team ERA’s in the NL, but it’s a bit more sketchy than it started out. Anyway, the bullpen has been great, and it is going to get better. In the next few days to weeks we should be getting Rafael Soriano, John Smoltz, and Mike Gonzalez back (probably in that order). So with Resop already designated for assignment, the Braves still have plenty of decisions to make. Here’s the bullpen as of now:
Jeff Bennett 3.57 ERA
Blaine Boyer 3.94 ERA
Manny Acosta 2.81 ERA
Will Ohman 3.10 ERA
Buddy Carlyle 3.38 ERA
Royce Ring 6.75 ERA
Phil Stockman 0.00 ERA
Pretty impressive, huh? So what do we do? Well, I don’t think Bennett will go because he’s been so flexible and crucial to our success. Boyer won’t go because he’s out of options, and better yet, he’s been pretty awesome (who doesn’t love the 29/6 K/BB ratio?). No way Acosta will go considering he’s got the best ERA above (Stockman doesn’t count; not enough innings). Ohman won’t go because we made the big trade for him, and again, better yet, he’s been pretty awesome. So that leaves the last three. This is how it should go. Soriano will come back first most likely, and then Stockman will go because Carlyle can pitch multiple innings and has more experience. Smoltz will come back, and Carlyle will most likely go because we might want Ring with Milwaukee and Cincinatti coming up. Prince Fielder for Milwaukee and Adam Dunn and Ken Griffey Jr. for Cincinatti are left-handers that we’ll need Ring for. Yet, Ring hasn’t been particularly spectacular, and Carlyle is a bit more flexible. Also, Ring is out of options, so he’ll be DFA’d as well. When Gonzalez comes back, the other will leave. Ohman will then shift to the left-handed specialist role, but he’s more valuable because he can get righties out as well. You have to like the security we should be getting in the back of the bullpen. While Smoltz and Soriano can be instantly put back into big situations, Cox needs to resist the temptation with Gonzalez. He hasn’t pitched in a while, and there will complications after Tommy John surgery. In conclusion, our new bullpen will look like this:
Jeff Bennett 3.57 ERA
Blaine Boyer 3.94 ERA
Manny Acosta 2.81 ERA
Will Ohman 3.10 ERA
Rafael Soriano 2.25 ERA
John Smoltz 2.00 ERA (as a starter)
Mike Gonzalez N/A
Pretty impressive, huh? Bennett will be the long-reliever. Boyer and Acosta will be the middle-relievers. Ohman will be the left-handed specialist. Soriano and Gonzalez will be the set-up guys. Smoltz will be the closer. I can’t wait to see the other teams faces when we roll out Gonzalez, Soriano, and then Smoltz.
Shameless Plug: For more on baseball in general, check out my blog Rounding the Bases, which is located in the blogroll to the right.