2007 Rotation Possibilities I: Tim Hudson

While a lot of fans would like to see him traded, it seems unlikely. His value has never been lower; even if the Braves wanted to trade him, it's unlikely that they could get anything of value for him.

Here's his line the past three seasons (stats from Yahoo!):

G  W  L  IP    H   R   ER  HR BB K   ERA  WHIP BAA    
27 12 6  188.2 194 82  74  8  44 103 3.53 1.26 .267   
29 14 9  192.0 194 79  75  20 65 115 3.52 1.35 .265   
31 12 10 195.0 210 116 105 22 68 123 4.85 1.43 .272

That's not a good progression. The season before the Braves traded for him, he looks OK. Since then, his walks have gone up (as have his strikeouts). Even worse, he's having a lot of trouble keeping the ball in the park. Looking at the stat line, he looks hit-unlucky this season, but watching him doesn't really seem to back that up. He's giving up a lot of hard hit balls, not so much the dribblers.

So, given that Hudson won't be traded, and that he's not likely to decide to retire, he's in the rotation next season. I'm not convinced that he's entirely healthy. But if he's not healthy, his medical history would point towards problems in his torso. That's where his injury history is. And those sorts of injuries are hard to treat effectively, and difficult to rehab from. You try not using your back muscles, or you abdominals. Good luck with that, and let me know how it works out for you.

If that is Hudson's problem, his 2006 season is probably about what we'll see in 2007. That's back-of-the-rotation material. Too bad he's being paid to be an ace. I can't see much chance of him becoming an ace again. Leo couldn't do it; McDowell couldn't do it. Maybe Dr. Frankenstein could do something for him?