Braves pitchers impressive thus far

Following a disastrous 2008 season that saw a starting rotation and bullpen decimated by injuries and the remaining crew get taxed beyond effectiveness, Braves GM Frank Wren entered the off-season seeking durable starters that could go deep into games. Wren signed Derek Lowe to be his new ace, traded for Javier Vazquez and ventured across the Pacific to grab a No.4 starter in Kenshin Kawakami. Super-prospect Tommy Hanson also won the MVP of the Arizona Fall League, the first time a pitcher has ever taken that honor and suddenly the starting rotation looked quite formidable. In the bullpen, Rafael Soriano has returned from injury and Mike Gonzalez is looking to be at full strength for an entire season.

Thus far this spring, Wren’s new charges have made him look very smart. Yesterday Lowe pitched four scoreless innings, allowing zero hits while striking out six Astros. In just six innings this spring, Lowe has nine strikeouts. Vazquez has been impressive in the WBC and Kawakami has appeared in three innings over two games, allowing just one hit while striking out three. The most impressive spring debut though belongs to Hanson. The youngster has nine strikeouts over six innings and was blowing smoke in his debut. He tossed two innings, hitting a batter as part of baseball’s code against Houston. His effort against was even more impressive as he got the start and ran off four strong innings with seven strikeouts against the defending World Series Champion Phillies.

Wren took a lot of heat over the offseason for missing out on Jake Peavy and AJ Burnett but could end up looking like a genius if Lowe stays healthy (a good bet) when Burnett gets hurt (a better bet) and if Hanson is the second-coming of John Smoltz, like some are predicting. Peavy would have been nice to have on the roster but if Hanson can be just as effective, a homegrown pitcher would be more important to this franchise. For starters, he comes cheaper than Peavy and it also lends credibility to the Braves minor league development system.

Spring training stats don’t mean anything but hopefully for Braves fans the success will come just as easily when the season starts.