Huddy to the bullpen?

[McCarroll21]

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4106112

Another ailing pitcher, Tim Hudson, said he could be throwing off the mound in two to three weeks. The former 20-game winner said he'd be willing to come back as a reliever if that would help the team and bump up his comeback from Tommy John surgery on his right elbow.

Hudson noted that Braves reliever Peter Moylan was back on the mound 11 months after the same operation -- about a month earlier than the normal recovery period. Hudson isn't expected to return before August, but he's looking for ways to speed up the process.

"Maybe I can come back sooner and help in the bullpen," said Hudson, a starter throughout his career.
Granted, I'd rather see Hudson starting, but I think it may be a good idea to put him in the bullpen to get him some innings this year instead of having to go through the rehab process to stretch him back out as a starter.

I remember when Matt Morris was younger and coming up with the Cardinals, they put him in the bullpen when he was coming back from surgery. The next year he won 22 games and finished 3rd in the CY voting.

Thoughts?

[niqjones]

I would love Huddy in the pen...hope this happens!

[MTDrunk]

I want him on the team. If he feels comfortable, I'll take him in the pen.

[GrandMasterB]

I'd be fine with it for this year. I figure that, barring injury, the rotation will be filled and it would be easier to try him in a relief role than sticking him right back out there as a starter. Once next season roles around, though, and he's had a full off-season to be able to throw and get ready, he should find his place back in the rotation. I just hope he doesn't try to rush himself and have a setback.

[Jmxatl]

If it would keep Bennett off the mound, I'm in 100% support of this.

[HTF]

would be the dumbest thing I've ever seen. he's a starting pitcher. if anyone goes the the pen it better be Kawakami.

[ahobbie]

would be the dumbest thing I've ever seen. he's a starting pitcher. if anyone goes the the pen it better be Kawakami.

It's not about replacing one of our starters with Hudson, its if he is able to come back early, he wouldn't be able to start games but he could possibly pitch an inning here and there out of the pen and work his way back to the rotation. What would be dumb is having him come back early and throw him right into the rotation and possibly suffer a setback.

[Chop33]

would be the dumbest thing I've ever seen. he's a starting pitcher. if anyone goes the the pen it better be Kawakami.
he's a starting pitcher, but I don't see what the harm would be in using him as a reliever until he's recovered enough to start again. Unless we just want to keep him out for insurance purposes.

[brnt247]

I saw this idea on another board a month or two ago and thought it was a great idea. Our rotation is strong and since he is willing to go to the bullpen it would strengthen our bullpen greatly and give us another ground ball guy to go with Moylan and Bennett.

[niqjones]

If it would keep Bennett off the mound, I'm in 100% support of this.

:word:


I think Huddy in the pen will maybe help bring some confidence to them also...after getting blown up every damn day some of these guys need some help....

[timmy]

If it gets him back sooner, I like the idea.

[Nasadega]

In my opinion, the biggest concern is next year.
Lowe, Vazquez, Kawakami and Jurrjens have a contract for 2010. Hanson is a near-lock (unless the planet kicks itself off its orbit and we all die before opening day) and here comes Huddy and his 2010 bargain option. 6 man rotation, anyone?

[brnt247]

It depends on how guys like Locke and Rohr progress, because depending on how well Hanson performs at the top level this year he may start next year at AAA and come up when an injury occurs. If we have no depth outside of our starting 5 then we will be in trouble.

[timmy]

It depends on how guys like Locke and Rohr progress, because depending on how well Hanson performs at the top level this year he may start next year at AAA and come up when an injury occurs. If we have no depth outside of our starting 5 then we will be in trouble.

Unless something terrible happens, I really can't envision Hanson as a AAA repeater. They'll make a trade to make room for him before that happens.

[ChipChipHooray]

I wouldnt mind this move, but if we are out of the race by the time he's ready come back then I don't see any point in risking it. Right now I feel like as bad as our pen has been our Offense is even worse and needs more upgrade than the pen.

[brnt247]

He wouldn't necessarily be repeating just waiting for an injury or poor performance to replace another starter. If Locke and Rohr progress well enough this year though then depth behind the starting 5 wouldn't be a problem and we wouldn't need Hudson, but it depends on how well Tommy adjusts to the majors.

[timmy]

He wouldn't necessarily be repeating just waiting for an injury or poor performance to replace another starter. If Locke and Rohr progress well enough this year though then depth behind the starting 5 wouldn't be a problem and we wouldn't need Hudson, but it depends on how well Tommy adjusts to the majors.

We should still have Charlie, Jo-Jo, Medlen and Diamond too; who you aren't including in that conversation. We'll have the depth behind our starting 5 one way or another, even if Locke and Rohrbough are just starting AA next year. But I really don't know how that would even have any impact on holding back a top 10 prospect, that is ready right now.

[GrandMasterB]

We should still have Charlie, Jo-Jo, Medlen and Diamond too; who you aren't including in that conversation. We'll have the depth behind our starting 5 one way or another, even if Locke and Rohrbough are just starting AA next year. But I really don't know how that would even have any impact on holding back a top 10 prospect, that is ready right now.

I have a feeling one of, if not both, Morton and Reyes will be gone by the time next season rolls around. If I'm not mistaken, Reyes will be out of options next year, so a decision is going to have to be made on him pretty soon. I could easily see him dealt at the deadline or in the off-season. Still, you're right, we should have enough arms ready to step into their place.

[HTF]

I have a feeling one of, if not both, Morton and Reyes will be gone by the time next season rolls around. If I'm not mistaken, Reyes will be out of options next year, so a decision is going to have to be made on him pretty soon. I could easily see him dealt at the deadline or in the off-season. Still, you're right, we should have enough arms ready to step into their place.

Tonight was a perfect showcase start for Reyes, maybe the Cards will give us an outfielder for him.

[Brave Henry]

My thoughts on Huddy to the 'pen...If at the time that Huddy would join the bull pen: a)our current relievers are in need of help (I would say they aren't right now albeit after a shaky start); b) our starting pitching is not in need of help; and c) we are within striking distance of a playoff spot; then it's worth a shot. If any of those pieces isn't true we just let him stick with plan A and join the rotation as soon as he's ready.

[Rip4144]

Nope, Bobby will go for it. Remember how he treats players coming back from lesser injuries. He will wait on Huddy.

[josephw000]

Better than friggin Bennett or Carlyle for damn sure....

[PeytonAllen]

Huddy in the pen would only be to get him some work headed into next season. So, wise move.

By the time he's ready to go we'll know a lot of things that could determine if he'd start at some point this year. A) Is Glavine back or gone. b) Has Reyes done enough to hold down that 5th spot. C) Has Hanson been called up yet? If we're a good bit back of a playoff spot, i don't see Huddy starting.

Get him work in the pen. But, let's say we're in the hunt for a playoff spot and he's needed (be it for the 5th spot, or for KK's spot...) that'd be a good option to have.

[SCchief]

If it would keep Bennett off the mound, I'm in 100% support of this.


:clap: totally agree, now just got to find ways of getting G. Anderson out of here.

[Southpaw]

There are so many factors that could change between now and when and Hudson is ready that's it hard to make this call now.

Are we still in contention? If we're still fighting for a playoff spot, we'd probably want to get Hudson back in the starting rotation. If we're not contending, we could afford to let Tim get some work in the bullpen.

How will our rotation look? Right now I think Hudson is our best starting pitcher. However, if we have a strong starting five in the 2nd half of the season, it wouldn't be as necessary to find a place in the rotation for Hudson.

How will our bullpen look? Hudson is too good of a pitcher to be used in a long reliever/ mop-up role. Right now it looks like the 7th-9th innings are set with Moylan, Soriano, and Gonzalez. If one of them gets hurt again I could see Hudson being moved to the bullpen, but his talents would be wasted there if thoses relievers are still healthy and effective.

[Brave Henry]

Are we still in contention? If we're still fighting for a playoff spot, we'd probably want to get Hudson back in the starting rotation. If we're not contending, we could afford to let Tim get some work in the bullpen.

This is the only one I'm not sure I agree with. Putting Huddy in a bullpen role is a risk--maybe a small one, but still a risk because it means coming back early (in an unfamiliar role no less). I don't think it's worth rushing him back from surgery unless it's to help us get to the playoffs this year, and that's especially true if we're talking about him pitching in the 'pen. Why do that if we aren't in contention? If we're not in contention, just err by a mile on the side of caution so he can be a strong part of our stellar 2010 team.

If we're in contention in July, need help in the 'pen but not the rotation, that's when it makes some sense. However, I think it's a long shot that all those factors fall into place and an even longer shot that the brass would go for it in any scenario.

[Southpaw]

This is the only one I'm not sure I agree with. Putting Huddy in a bullpen role is a risk--maybe a small one, but still a risk because it means coming back early (in an unfamiliar role no less). I don't think it's worth rushing him back from surgery unless it's to help us get to the playoffs this year, and that's especially true if we're talking about him pitching in the 'pen. Why do that if we aren't in contention? If we're not in contention, just err by a mile on the side of caution so he can be a strong part of our stellar 2010 team.

If we're in contention in July, need help in the 'pen but not the rotation, that's when it makes some sense. However, I think it's a long shot that all those factors fall into place and an even longer shot that the brass would go for it in any scenario.

I don't think we'd rush Hudson into the bullpen if we weren't in contention, but I could see the Braves stretching him out in the bullpen if they wanted to allow Hanson or Jo-Jo to take their lumps in the majors before 2010. Most of that would depend on how full our rotation would be by the time Hudson is ready though.

[McCarroll21]

Huddy had surgery on August 8 last year.

Peter Moylan had surgery on May 8 last year and returned looking like he hadn't missed a beat during spring training. He started the year shaky, but he's been great since. May to March leaves us with 10 months. Factor in spring training as rehab and we're around 11 months for recovery.

I think Gonzalez had surgery on May 31, 2007 and returned in mid-June last year. So that's 12 months for him.

Using that as a guide, we're probably looking at Hudson being ready to return to the mound around the trade deadline if he's out of the bullpen. To me, that's the best place to use him. Obviously, it'd be a situation where you're bringing him in to start an inning and not to get out of a jam and you're not going to be able to pitch him on back to back days, but I think he'd be valuable in the bullpen down the stretch. That's one reliever we may not be forced to acquire at the deadline if we're in the hunt ... meaning we can put all our eggs in the offense.

Between Lowe, Vazquez, Jurrjens, Kawakami, Reyes, Hanson, Morton and Glavine, I'd be very surprised if we didn't have five solid starters by the end of July.

[TheBraveVolunteer]

That's one reliever we may not be forced to acquire at the deadline if we're in the hunt ... meaning we can put all our eggs in the offense.


I know this is putting the cart way before the horse, but even if we are in contention at the deadline, I hope we are not "buyers". I'd hate to see us sell the farm on a rental player.

Not to say if one of our major league position players not named McCann has a hot first half, and we can get a starting left fielder in a straight up trade, I'm all for it.

[timmy]

I know this is putting the cart way before the horse, but even if we are in contention at the deadline, I hope we are not "buyers". I'd hate to see us sell the farm on a rental player.

Not to say if one of our major league position players not named McCann has a hot first half, and we can get a starting left fielder in a straight up trade, I'm all for it.

I can't envision this team making another Teixiera-like trade anytime soon, really the biggest package I could imagine us giving away would be something along the lines of Gorkys Hernandez + Charlie/Jo-Jo and a small-time prospect.

Anyways, if Jeff hits this year than there's really no need to bring in any long-term solution in LF, because both Heyward and Hernandez will be ready next year, and at that point we'll already have outfielders coming out of our ears even if we don't add anyone. As far as trading one of our starters to bring in a bat for LF, the same likely applies. We're young and solid up the middle, have stars at third and catcher and have a cheap, solid solution at first until 2011 when the in-house solutions take over. I just don't see any of our everyday guys moving to get a LF, because that's fixing one hole by creating another. And the hole in left is going to be fixed by next year either way.

Really the best thing this franchise can do is give Francoeur and BJones plenty of playing time in the corners all year, and hope that at least one of those guys bounces back. But they aren't playing one of those guys. I just think we should run BJones out there regular, so that maybe he can become an asset for this franchise again. If he produces than that gives us another young, cheap, valuable piece we didn't really have before.

[aukevin]

Anything to get Huddy back in the game sooner!

[JCStone57]

IF he does go to the pen, I hope he has a defined role and not just thrown out there in random situations. I agree with most that if he does come back and go to the 'pen it should be as a spring board buidling towards 2010 with the hopes that he regains his former self.

By saying that, I hope the defined role, is a 6th or 7th inning starting the inning off and not being thrown in there to mop-up with 2 on, no out or bases loaded situations.