Smoltz: 'It's like being 25 again'

Smoltz: 'It's like being 25 again'

The bald spot and booming voice are familiar, but there's something different about Braves pitcher John Smoltz. A week before another spring training, the 17-year veteran is brimming with a rookie's enthusiasm. His buzz isn't from the hyperbaric chamber Smoltz sometimes naps in. He's been on a crest of anticipation since Dec. 11, when the Braves traded for Milwaukee closer Dan Kolb and told Smoltz he's moving back to the starting rotation. "It's like being 25 again," Smoltz said Tuesday during Leo Mazzone's pitching camp at Turner Field. "I'm going to spring training with a lot to be excited about."

He's 37 and a four-time elbow surgery patient, including two procedures since he was last a regular starter in 1999. But Smoltz said he doesn't have the questions and concerns that fans and others do regarding his elbow and the rigors of pitching 200-plus innings. "I don't have any doubts," he said. "Zero doubts." He'll report to spring training in his best condition in years, after a winter of increased training uninterrupted by illness, injury or surgery rehabilitation. Smoltz increased his throwing, running and core-strengthening regimens to prepare for the move back to starting. He looks leaner and more muscular. "He's loaded for bear," Braves general manager John Schuerholz said. "John's on a very rigorous training program, always looking for ways to make himself stronger and better. That's his nature. "This guy wants to have every edge he can."

Before becoming a dominant closer and saving 144 games over the past three seasons, Smoltz was a stalwart member of Atlanta's elite starting rotations in the 1990s. He won 24 games and a Cy Young Award in 1996, and has a 159-115 record and 3.37 ERA in 361 career starts, along with his 12-4 mark and 2.60 ERA in 26 postseason starts. But now Smoltz, who turns 38 in May, is entering uncharted waters. No such accomplished pitcher has moved from starting to closing for an extended period, then back to starting. "It's an incredible challenge, and exciting to me to know I am going back to starting," he said. "It is what I like."

He could've become a free agent after this season, but instead signed a two-year, $20 million contract in December that runs through 2006, with a club option for 2007 both parties expect to be exercised. Instead of a $12 million salary and additional $100,000 per start he would've made this season under his old contract, Smoltz gets a $6 million straight salary and $8 million in '06, along with a $6 million signing bonus. His renegotiated, reduced salary enabled the Braves to fit Kolb into an $80 million payroll. After some wondered how Schuerholz would be able to rebuild the rotation on a budget, the GM was able to trade for both an All-Star closer and an ace, Hudson, while also making Smoltz happy. "Our general manager had a great luxury this offseason," Smoltz said, "by being able to get a starter or a closer. I didn't make any demands. I said I'd do either role. "People thought I demanded to be a starter. No, I didn't. "[But] I'm happy to be back in this role, because I think the mix is better. We do have a great closer. People might not see that right now, but he's going to be very good."

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FRESH START

John Smoltz is moving back to the Braves' starting rotation. He has a .213 opponents' average and 9.67 strikeouts per nine innings as a closer, and a .234 opponents' average and 7.99 strikeouts per nine innings as a starter. His career statistical breakdown:

Role ERA W L Sv Opp G GS IP ER HR BB K

Starter 3.37 159 115 0 0 361 361 2,439.1 914 199 779 2,118

Reliever 2.35 4 6 154 168 241 0 260.1 68 17 50 280

Total 3.27 163 121 154 168 602 361 2,699.2 982 216 829 2,398

I hope he makes it. He's been such a great asset for the team in both roles. He has been one of the two or three best closers in the game since moving to that spot, so I'm reluctant to see him start. On the other hand, it would be nice to have him starting in the postseason. He hasn't had many save opportunities in the postseason, since the team is usually behind in the late innings. I'd like to see that change.