Braves’ Smoltz Succeeds Despite Pitching in Pain

John Smoltz came into the big leagues as a hard-throwing right-hander who relied on pure power to get hitters out.

With a right elbow that is almost constantly in pain after two operations, the 32-year-old Atlanta Braves pitcher has had to change his style, throwing fewer pitches and relying more on changing speeds and location.

But the new Smoltz is even more successful than the old version--when he is healthy enough to pitch. From 1988 until his first operation in 1994, Smoltz was 78-75. Since having bone chips and spurs removed, he’s 68-30.

“I feel good about pitching. I’m on a nice roll. Every time I step out there I think I’m going to win,” he said. “The only thing that really hampers me from making all my starts obviously is the physical problems, but that’s out of my hands.”

Since his second operation in the winter of 1997, Smoltz has been on the 15-day disabled list three times.

“My faith has been tested many times,” he said.

He opened last season on the DL, then was on it again in mid-May. Still, he managed to go 17-3 with a 2.90 earned-run average.

“I don’t like being on the DL. I’m not going to lie, but I’ve been struggling physically with the elbow,” he said. “For me, that’s a part of the game, I guess.”

He just came off his latest stint on the DL--after the elbow became inflamed--pitching six scoreless innings in a 7-2 win over Colorado on Tuesday.

“He had everything going,” said Manager Bobby Cox, who limited Smoltz to 79 pitches and pulled him with a 4-0 lead. “I just thought the way the game was going, he worked awfully hard during those six innings.”

Smoltz said he “felt really good and could have gone at least another inning” against the Rockies.

Before his comeback outing, Smoltz had thrown in a simulated game.

“He hasn’t had any pain for the last 10 days,” Cox said. “He threw just as many pitches in the simulated game and came out of it feeling great. Hopefully, we’ll knock on wood and it’ll stay that way all season.”

Smoltz, 6-1 with a 2.34 ERA in nine starts this season, is 18-2 since the 1998 all-star break and 24-4 since Sept. 19, 1997.

Success for Smoltz is especially important this season for the normally pitching-rich Braves. Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine, normally their aces, have struggled and were a combined 7-9 entering the weekend.

Smoltz was happy and a little surprised that he was able to pitch so well in his first game back.

“I was very, very pleased to know that I could stay under control and throw all my pitches,” he said. “Based on that outing, I’m pretty close to where I was earlier in the season.”

But, even though his elbow feels better now, Smoltz thinks he may eventually need another stay on the disabled list to get through the season.

“That’s a cruel way to look at your job, but I think the reality is that there may come another point when I have to [get time off] when it gets in a cycle of inflammation,” he said.

Next for Smoltz is a milestone strikeout. He got five against the Rockies for 1,999 and will try to become the 52nd major leaguer to reach 2,000 on Monday night in Atlanta against Tampa Bay.

“Once I got five, I really wanted to get the sixth one and get it out of the way, but it didn’t happen,” he said. “Two thousand is a neat number, but we’ll have to wait until my next start. I’m just glad it’s going to be at home.”