April 12, 2005
Where's the Win?
In his first start for the Braves, Tim Hudson didn't pitch that well, but only allowed only 1 run over five innings. It wasn't enough to get the win. Tonight, he pitched brilliantly, allowing one run over eight innings with no walks. It still wasn't enough for a win as Dan Kolb blows his first save in four chances and takes the loss for the Braves. Kolb walked two and allowed two hits in his one inning of work.
Posted by David Pinto at
11:20 PM
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To bad Smoltz is a starter now.
Danny Kolb will be fine as the closer, it's been a bad week for closers (including today). Not unexpected for that to happen at the beginning of the season, it's only the second week. The pitchers will adjust into the flow of the season and pretty soon you won't see Kolb blowing many saves, if at all.
As for Smoltzy, he'll be okay as well. The 15 Ks he put up in his last start shows he can handle starting again - he only made one mistake, that was the homer to Beltran. He hasn't started in a while so expect him to struggle occasionally when he goes through the second or third time in the order. I'd expect to see him going seven innings on a regular basis by mid-season.
I don't have it in front of me, but my local paper mentioned that there were 39 blown saves in the first 99 games this year. Is this the beginning of a cycle of fewer dominant closers? Have hitters caught up to them?
