With Tim Hudson's Return, Braves Face Enviable Problem

The Atlanta Braves have too many good starting pitchers.

It's a problem that every major league team wishes they had. The Washington Nationals just signed the most hyped college baseball player in decades because their rotation is a laughingstock. Heck, the Los Angeles Dodgers have the best team ERA in baseball and they don't even have a clue who their fifth starter should be.

Tim Hudson, surgically repaired right elbow and all, has returned to the Braves rotation. On Tuesday he made his first appearance in over a year, and his five-strikeout performance was good enough to earn him the win and force serious questions on Bobby Cox about his starting rotation. Everyone wants to know what the Braves will do now that they have six quality starting pitchers.

While it seems there are many options to ponder, using a six-man rotation might win out over sending an established starter to the bullpen.

Last night, when asked about Hudson's addition to the rotation, Cox said: "It gives us six good ones. It gives us a lot of options."

Hudson is crashing a party of five guys who are more then holding their own on the mound. Jair Jurrjens is 10-9 with a 2.89 ERA. Javier Vazquez and Tommy Hanson both have similar, excellent ERAs (3.18 and 3.15 respectively) and with Jurrjens make up a triumvirate of starting pitchers who shouldn't be doing anything but heading out to the mound every fifth day.

Kenshin Kawakami, the only Braves starter with a losing record, has a season-long sub-4.00 ERA and since the All-Star break sports a 3.50 ERA. His record should be better then the 7-10 mark where it currently resides.

The final rotation spot is held by one of the more consistent pitchers in baseball. This season marked the eighth time in a row that Derek Lowe won at least 12 games in a season. The Braves signed him to an almost $60 million contract in the offseason for just that kind of consistency. Lowe is in danger of finishing the year with an ERA above four for the first time since 2004, but at 4.38, he's not killing the team.

As nice as it may be to have six guys who deserve to start, Cox needs to figure out how to send one to the bullpen. By running with a six-man rotation for the rest of the year he'll be taking away start(s) from Hanson, Jurrjens and Vazquez who are throwing too well right now.

By adding another day of rest the Braves also run the risk of messing up the rhythm of these starters who are used to marching out to the mound every fifth day. The pitching arm is a unique and mysterious weapon. The effects of tinkering with the rotation schedule aren't as easily predicted as say moving a player to a new position or switching a batting lineup. And if you aren't sure how these starting pitchers will react to an extra little bit of rest, why risk it? The Braves have made an incredible run since the break and have one of the best records in baseball as of late. Is there a reason to switch things up now?

I see two options here as I don't think Cox can send Lowe to the bullpen. It's true that Lowe is at the bottom of the pile if you look solely at his earned run average. But, he's got a very valuable tool that these other pitchers could benefit from greatly. Lowe has stretch-run and playoff experience. That alone should force Cox to keep him in the rotation.

That being said, the Braves can either send Kawakami or Hudson to the bullpen or they can skip his or Hudson's start each week for the remainder of the season. The second option isn't fair to either pitcher, but the Braves shouldn't consider whether it's fair or not. They aren't trying to make everyone happy, they're trying to make it to the post-season. That means whatever is best for the ball club should happen.

What's best for the ball club might be sending Kawakami to the bullpen. And it's not because he's the weakest link among the six starting pitchers. Between he and Hudson, Kawakami has the lower WHIP, a ratio comparing how many walks and hits a pitcher gives up per inning. Hudson, as he's polishes up his pitching repertoire, will give up an extra hit or walk every now and again. Kawakami shows that he's not going to let as many people on base. And that's a great tool for a relief pitcher. Kawakami also has greatly reduced the number of walks he's allowed lately. In August he only walked seven batters in six starts.

Kawakami wouldn't be just a cast-off from the rotation, he would actually be beneficial to the bullpen. And as the Braves fight for a spot in the post-season, bolstering the bullpen might be just as valuable as having too many good starting pitchers.