The Atlanta Braves have cut ties with Tom Glavine. This move deserves more attention and thought than I can give it at the moment, but here are some links:
Smoltz is pissed.
Bowman’s write up.
Mark Bradley agrees with the move.
Talking Chop reacts.
Kris Medlen made his Major League debut on Thursday night, and it was not one for the scrapbook. Rather, it was one for the scrapheap, if you will. Dude’s wheels came off in the fourth inning, as he lost command of his pitches. Final line was three innings pitched, one loss, five earned runs, five walks handed out, and three strikeouts.
Do not panic, it was Medlen’s debut and he was obviously nervous. He will get another chance to prove he is ready in five days when the Braves are in San Francisco, and then his third will come at Arizona. Those should be favorable matchups for Medlen, so it will be interesting to see how he responds. Of course, the Rockies should have been favorable as well.
If Medlen does not perform well in his next two starts, he will certainly be sent back down to the Minors. The question will be in who replaces him. Will it be Tom Glavine, Charlie Morton, or some dude named Tommy Hanson?
Tim Hudson is working his way back from Tommy John surgery. While he is rehabbing, he is not oblivious to the pitching that the Atlanta Braves have amassed. Hudson is on track for an August arrival, and adding a number one starter to the mix could give the Braves a huge boon in the pennant race. The problem might be finding a spot for Hudson in the rotation.
With Kris Medlen making his MLB debut tonight, and Tommy Hanson waiting in the wings, the Braves have two rookie starters who could make an impact this season. Throw in Tom Glavine, and you suddenly have a logjam in the rotation, without even considering Charlie Morton. This is not lost on Hudson, who says that while he wants to start, he wants to help the team however he can. Even if it means starting out in the bully. Braves fans can only hope that this “problem” has to be faced in August, and one has to wonder if a move for a bat will come about near the deadline.
Tom Glavine is working his way towards rejoining his Atlanta Braves teammates on the field. His wife, Chris, however, is working on expanding their family. This is a great read about Glaves’ wife and her chance encounter that led to Tom standing in a delivery room (which I’ll be doing soon myself!). If you needed another reason to like Glavine, look no farther.
In baseball news, Glavine is still trying to get back to the Majors by the end of May. I am now pulling even harder for him, and with Kenshin Kawakami pitching like Hideki Irabu instead of Dice-K, the Braves do indeed need him to return. Glaves pitched a simulated game on Monday, and other than being drilled by a Greg Norton line drive, things went well. He plans on pitching a few innings for AAA Gwinnett on Saturday, so we should know more by Sunday. Glavine should be ignored in all fantasy formats either way.
Tom Glavine threw a bullpen session at Citi Field in New York on Wednesday, and all indications are that he is on track to return to the Braves later this month. Glaves hopes to pitch in the Bigs in May, but he still has to regain more arm strength. His velocity, which is sitting around 81mph on his fastball, will probably not improve very much, as dude is 43 years old. If Glaves does indeed wind up joining the Braves later this month, it will allow them to send Jo-Jo Reyes back down to the Minors. A move that they desperately need to make, even if Glaves does not come back.
Currently sitting in AAA Gwinnett is Charlie Morton, who won his fourth game yesterday while going seven innings and allowing one earned run. That puts his ERA at 3.07, and his K:BB is at 37:12 on the year. In his 41 innings of work, he has allowed a total of 45 base runners, and stranded 41 of them.
Also sitting in AAA Gwinnett is some guy named Tommy Hanson. While Hanson only has one win on the season, it is not due to his performance while toeing the rubber. Dude has a 1.99 ERA and a 0.995 WHIP to go with his 57 strikeouts over 40.2 innings. I still do not believe that Hanson will be called up anytime soon, but he should be on your radar. It is my belief that Morton will get the call if the Braves need a starter before Glavine is ready to step in. Depending on how Glavine does, and the progress of Tim Hudson’s recovery from Tommy John surgery, it is possible that Hanson does not see the Majors until as late as September this season. There are just too many variables to make any solid predictions on Hanson’s call-up at this point.
If you are new to this site, please peruse the archives as there is more Hanson and Morton content at your disposal.
Mark Bowman has an update on Tom Glavine. Basically, he still feels discomfort in his left shoulder, but it is not as bad as it was before. The real news here is that it is not enough pain to dissuade Glaves from continuing his comeback. At least, that is how he feels right now, but I suspect he will be changing his mind in the next few weeks.
Bowman goes on to say that with the struggles of Kenshin Kawakami that the Braves really need Glavine back. I disagree with that, as it is way too early to throw in the towel on Kawakami. Well, you can drop him in your fantasy league, but remember when Dice-K first came over from Japan? He lost two of his first three starts on his way to a 15 – 12 record in his first season in the States. Of course, he also struck out 24 batters in those three starts while allowing six earned runs total.
Even if Kawakami does not turn it around, the Braves have options right now. Charlie Morton would be one of them, but he got rocked in his last start giving up eight hits and six earned runs. Morton throws again tonight. Another option would be Tommy Hanson, but I would be shocked if he is called up before June. More on Tommy to come.
Tom Glavine got good news on Tuesday, but even with that good news he could be facing retirement. Glave’s left rotator cuff is inflamed, which will require at least two weeks of rest. That’s good news because the word tear is not involved. It’s bad news because if it takes much more than two weeks, Glavine is likely to hang up his cleats. Of course, that could be great news for Tommy Hanson, which could also turn out to be great news for the Braves because Hanson’s upside is much more than a 42 year old Glavine’s is. That being said, the Braves do not want Hanson to become a Super Two, so they could ride with Jo-Jo Reyes or Charlie Morton’s bad ass.
Your fantasy impact is really unclear at the moment. We expect Hanson to be called up at some point, so you will have to make an educated guess as to whether or not you can wait to add him. If Morton gets the call, he is a great spot start option and could be a good sleeper. Reyes just fails to excite all the way around.
It is never a good sign when your name is associated with Dr. James Andrews. Especially if you are a starting pitcher in the Major Leagues. Even more so if you are in your 40’s, and already working a rehab assignment. Apparently Glaves felt some “discomfort” while taking an at-bat after throwing two trouble free frames against AA Carolina on Sunday. The worrisome thing is that when Glavine talked about it, he mentioned the word “pop” when referring to his throwing shoulder.
This could be good news for Tommy Hanson and those who are hawking him for their fantasy leagues. He will not get the start this Saturday, which was to be Glavine’s first start of the season, as Jo-Jo Reyes will be called up from AAA Gwinnett to make the start against Matt Gould’s Pirates.
It is not shocking news to learn that Tom Glavine was placed on the Prior List. The shocking thing is that I had to stumble across the news at the bottom of this Jon Cooper entry on MLB.com. Glavine is still on pace for his April 18th debut against the Pirates.
Notables sent down to AAA this past weekend were Manny Acosta, Gregor Blanco and Brandon Jones.
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