Here is a quick snippet from the AJC :

The Braves' John Smoltz threw a scoreless eighth inning Saturday night for Class A Rome, striking out one, and could be activated as soon as Monday.

Mike Gonzalez made his second appearance in his minor league rehabilitation assignment at AA Mississippi. He gave up two hits in two scoreless innings after throwing one scoreless inning Thursday. The Braves would like to give Gonzalez a couple of weeks to work his way back.

"He just needs to get back competitive," Atlanta manager Bobby Cox said.

I expect that even when these guys return they'll be a bit shaky for their first couple of outings, so the immediate benefits may not be realized, but if they stay healthy and return to their previous form (still a tall order for Gonzo, who is coming back from TJ) then the end of the game for the Braves may begin sometime around the sixth or seventh inning.

I especially like what this portends for our problem in one-run games. There is a distinct lack of confidence in some of the Braves relievers right now, so to add two guys like Smoltz and Gonzalez to the back of the pen makes a huge difference in how Cox uses his relievers (not to mention the recent addition of Rafael Soriano). Guys like Acosta and Boyer turn into the early innings guys, and Ohman returns to being just a LOOGY. Bennett and Carlyle can then go back to being just long-men or situational guys. By the way, that list sort of tells you that I think the team will cut Royce Ring and demote Phil Stockman (though they may choose to demote Carlyle instead).

As much as this is a good thing for our bullpen, I still would prefer that Smoltz come back as a starter. Obviously the thought from the team and from John is that his elbow will hold up better as a reliever than as a starter, but this leaves our rotation without its best pitcher -- and the winningest pitcher in post-season history, if we're looking that far ahead (and we should be).

Further down in the AJC article it mentions that Mike Hampton did some more long tossing on his latest road back from his latest injury -- and he didn't have any setbacks. I'm still of the opinion that he'll severely stub his toe on his way out of the dugout to make his first start and have to leave the game without ever throwing a pitch.

Lately, good news on the injury front always seems to come with bad news. We'll deal with the good news first, I guess. Rafael Soriano should be activated from the disabled list for today's game, and not a moment too soon with the way Cox seems to be losing confidence in some members of his bullpen (see last night's game). The Braves have been very cautious with Soriano, so he should be more than ready to come off the DL and contribute immediately.

In other can-be-a-closer news, Mike Gonzalez recently passed the pitching on back to back days test in extended spring training in Orlando and is now headed to Mississippi (which is sort of like our Warm Springs these days) to make rehab appearances on Wednesday and Friday nights. This is bad news for Royce Ring, but good news for the overall state of the Atlanta pen.

Add to Soriano and Gonzalez the possible return -- whenever he feels like it -- of John Smoltz, who will apparently return in a bullpen role. The late innings are about to be pretty nasty (in a good way) for the Braves. Smoltz is starting Thursday night's game for the Rome Braves, though he is not expected to throw more than one or two innings.

Now to the bad news. Matt Diaz went on the disabled list following last night's game after straining a ligament in his knee (wall = 1; Diaz = 0). The Braves will not replace him on the roster with an outfielder just yet, but apparently plan to activate Soriano in his place. The injury to Diaz comes at a rather bad time since the team was already thinking of putting Mark Kotsay on the disabled list to give him time to rest his ailing back. We knew at some point this season Kotsay would likely head to the DL for some period of time, but I don't think anyone thought we'd actually be disappointed to see him get disabled. (Interesting how our opinions have changed from spring training to now.)

If Kotsay does need to be disabled, then we would likely see the Braves recall either Josh Anderson or Brent Lillibridge. Anderson has been pretty solid all season and while Lillibridge struggled hitting below .200 for much of the first month, his bat has begun to come alive lately. It's unlikely that the team will recall Brandon Jones as he continues to struggle at the plate.

Though it is less likely, you may also see the Braves try and swing some sort of trade for another team's unwanted outfielder in exchange for some of the guys we have recently designated for assignment. While he's not doing too well this year, the Braves may look to swap one of their DFA'ed players (likely Pena) for the recently DFA'ed Scott Hatteberg from the Reds. Then once Kotsay returns, Hatteberg could fit in as another bench bat to go with Greg Norton.

Per a release from the Mississippi Braves:

The Mississippi Braves announce that RHP John Smoltz will make a rehab appearance with the M-Braves on Saturday night while the team is in Tennessee.

That's a step. I don't know if it's a step that will bear fruit and help him make it back, it may result in just another injury, so don't hate me if I'm not too excited. We've been down this road with other pitchers this year, and with all the mixed reports and non-reports on Smoltz, I'll take a pessimistic approach to this news.