At the major league level…
… After a big contract extension and bigger expectations, our hopes that we found a dominant closer in Rafael Soriano are still up in the air. It’s not because of ineffectiveness; it’s because of some "mysterious" injury – the attached version of phantom limb pain. Soriano complained and complained about pain in his pitching elbow, but no MRI and none of the Dr. James Andrews of the world found anything wrong with the relievers elbow. Perhaps rest and time will fix the "damage."

As one closer feigned an arm injury, another closer came back from one better than most everyone thought he would. Mike Gonzalez rocked himself back into the closer’s role a mere week after returning from the disabled list and Tommy John surgery. He should most likely be considered the closer of choice going into spring training next season.

Manny Acosta is considered by some to have some future closer ability, but with Acosta it’s always been the amount of walks he issues which seemed to have doomed him. Blaine Boyer is another guy who some considered to one day be closer material, but Boyer gave up too many hits, including the gopher ball, and that combined with flagrant overuse may have set Boyer back. But relievers are fickle creatures and just as bad as some of these guys were this year they could come back next year and dominate.

The future Braves closer…
… Though he has found his best success this year as a starter, right-hander Kris Medlen profiles to make the majors as a reliever. Moving him to the rotation was supposed to help Medlen work on his changeup, and while that has improved, and while he has become an accomplished starter, the end result is that when Medlen moves back into the bullpen he goes from being projected as a setup reliever to being considered a future closer.

As much as we need starters in the majors, Medlen is behind several guys on the starting depth chart, and the odds are that his ability will mature to major league ready before the Braves have a major league starting job ready for him. I’m sure that many people will disagree with me about moving Medlen back to the bullpen, but as much as we need starters we also need talented relievers, and with all the injuries that have plagued our staff the last few years, we may need a closer in waiting who is ready to step in.

More for future consideration…
2. Craig Kimbrel – If anyone was upset about the Braves trading Joey Devine, then they needn’t get down on that trade for too long. We went out and drafted Kimbrel this year and all the young fireball reliever did was strikeout 56 batters in 35.1 innings pitched while only giving up 16 hits and two earned runs. He had success at every level, beginning at Danville, then Rome, and the Beach. Batters managed to hit just .131 off of Kimbrel. In a small sample size in Myrtle Beach he showed a few signs of vulnerability, so he will likely begin next season there, but he should move up to Mississippi mid-year.

3. Stephen Marek – The "other" part of the Kotchman trade might begin to pay dividends as early as next year as he competes for a spot in the bullpen during spring training. The jury is out on whether or not he has closer stuff, but another couple of years of development could change some minds.

3. Kevin Gunderson – He shined as a closer at Oregon State when they won the College World Series, so we know he can close and close effectively. He’s been given that opportunity several times in the minors and will likely continue to be given that opportunity. His future in the majors is probably that of a LOOGY, but there’s a chance he could sneak into a closer’s role at some point.

4. Cory Gearrin – Another college closer who has had mixed results in pro ball. The Braves have moved him quickly and for the most part he’s responded well. His ERA’s have not always been pretty, but his average against shows that he’s still able to get batters out when he challenges them.

5. Benino Pruneda – Reportedly a guy who can throw up to 100mph, Pruneda had a sensational year at Rome in his first full pro season. He struck out 73 in 57.1 innings and had an almost 2-to-1 ground outs to fly outs ratio – spectacular for a power pitcher. Pruneda is a JuCo guy and should see Myrtle Beach next year and possibly some time at Mississippi late in the season. While he didn’t do much closing at Rome, 100mph is certainly capable of closing one day.

6. Nick Fellman – The Braves chose to have Fellman skip Rome and go from Danville last year right to Myrtle Beach this year. He responded admirably, though he predictably struggled in the first half of the year with an ERA over 5.00 and eight homeruns allowed, but he adjusted to the league and found his form in the second half to put up a 1.59 ERA with no homeruns allowed.

Others Relievers (not necessarily closer-types):  Lee Hyde (college reliver is rebounding from injury earlier this year, the Braves showed in 2007 that they think he can move fast through the system); Rico Reid (a real competative reliver with a good fastball/curveball mix, but needs time to refine his game); Brett Butts (big reliver from Auburn didn't have a good year ERA-wise, but he threw a lot of innings, kept his walks down, and held opposing batters to a low .220 average); Michael Nix (bigger Aubern reliever who has shown some good improvement each of the last two years; he should be in the spring training bullpen mix); Tyler Wilson (big reliever had a better season than it looks like he had after several tough early outings; he still needs to control the walks); Luis Valdez (older reliever may have turned a corner this year; it's hard to argue with 28 saves and a 2.76 ERA; if he's still around next year he might get a shot in spring training); Sung Ki Jung (after a great year in 2007 he was far too hittable this year as batters hit almost 100 points higher off of him in 2008)

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.