Talking Chop

Earlier in the year when John Smoltz was coming back from injury and returning to the rotation of the Boston Red Sox, the Atlanta Braves were fortunate enough to dodge him during two different series. It would have been almost too much for Smoltz and for the Braves to have faced each other in a game... but today it suddenly dawned on me -- we might have the chance to face him again now that he's a member of the St. Louis Cardinals.

We thought we had dodged a bullet, or rather, a media sideshow, but it might be back. Smoltz is scheduled to start this Sunday, August 23rd, for the Cards. Counting forward every fifth game (I'm assuming that the Cards will not skip starters on off-days), Smoltz would make starts on the 29th or August, and the 4th and 9th of September. The Braves series in St. Louis starts on the 11th of September and ends on the 13th.

St. Louis does have an off-day on the 10th of September, so if there are any rain-outs for them between now and then, Smoltz would likely start against the Braves. Counting backwards, the starter for the Braves would likely be Kenshin Kawakami.

For now though, it looks like we'll dodge the Smoltz bullet one more time, but we'll have to keep a close eye on Cardinals games to see if any get rained out and how they adjust their rotation.