Jan 14 2009
Derek Lowe Just What The Braves Needed
I was beginning to think the Atlanta Braves were going to enter spring training without a number 1 starter in their rotation. Thankfully though Derek Lowe just signed a 4 year 60 million deal to come pitch for the Braves. They beat out the Mets who were also trying to sign him so that’s doubly sweet. Anytime you can keep a good player from signing with another team in your division is good. Lowe will be a big help to the Braves, he has averaged 208 innings and a 3.79 ERA in the past 7 seasons while pitching for the Red Sox and Dodgers. He also has a career record of 126-107 with a ERA of 3.75 which isn’t to bad at all. He will join the 2 other pitchers the Braves added this off season Javier Vazquez who I don’t know much about since I don’t really follow the American league that closely and Japanese right-hander Kenshin Kawakami. Vazquez was 12-16 with a 4.67 ERA last season with the White Sox and Kawakami was 9-5 last season with the Chunichi Dragons back in Japan. He’s 33 years old and had trouble with his back last season, so with those 2 you can see why the Braves needed a number 1 starter they can depend on. Tim Hudson is still recovering from elbow ligament replacement surgery and wont be of any help until at least the second half of the season. Tom Glavine is coming off elbow surgery and hasn’t decided if he is going to pitch or retire, so it looks like to me Derek Lowe is a big answer to the Braves pitching problems. Now if they can just sign a couple good bats they may just make some noise this year after all.
