Post by Reddington on Mar 16, 2018 20:43:56 GMT -5
Hey Braves fans,
Today we talk about the starting rotation, that has the potential to be called "the Young Guns".
Now I know what you are thinking, and that might be a better name for a western about lawless gunfighters such as Billy the Kid, but Skip and I think that with the arms on these youngsters it could also be a great name to call the starting rotation.
The oldest (age 30) of the group is veteran journeyman Jon Matlack that was acquired from Baltimore last season, is now with his forth team after starting his professional life in SD. The majority of his seasons were in Minnesota where he enjoyed several good years even with a 4+ era. Since returning to the NL with the Braves last year his ERA has been sub 3.00
The next oldest is 27 yr old phenom Tom Housman. While he had a lackluster rookie season in 78 with 22 games and only 5 games started, he broke out about midway through his sophomore effort and became thee dominant pitcher of Atlanta's 79 rotation. This season he has been even better, just mowing down batters like they are butter and he's a hot knife. While it's still early in the season, and everyone knows he'll have his slump too, management knows they have a stud in Tom. Drafted with Atlanta's first pick in 72, he's a home grown talent.
At age 26 Paul Hatzell is the middle aged guy of the group, and also was a rookie with Housman in 78. Paul is a really good pitcher, but doesn't typically match up well against opposing teams aces. He has streaks of brilliance including the first half of the 78 season in which he was an NL all star, however he is a tad too inconsistent to be counted on in the top half of the rotation. Paul is capable of winning 12-16 games a year with ease. Drafted with Atlanta's first pick in 75, he's a home grown talent.
John Fulgham at 23 is still a bit of a raw talent, but is one of the better 5th starters in the league, and in facts matches up well against better that 40% of the pitchers in the league. based on Atlanta's avg runs per game, and the starting pitchers era's all of them should have zero loses, alas these poor guy watch the offence only come to life occasionally and for the most part leave their pitchers stranded on an island with no room for mistake. John is just into his rookie campaign and should have a good long career with Atlanta.
The youngest of the Young Guns is Don Robinson. Selected using Atlanta's 1st in 76, Don is already a top tier pitcher and wouldn't surprise Skip and I if he ended up in the running for rookie of the year.
The number one song in the land is
