Kolb Still Struggling for Acceptance in Atlanta

As the bullpen door swings open and Dan Kolb steps through, the giant video board at Turner Field becomes a frenzy of colors and images.

The shiny grill of an 18-wheeler appears first, melding into Kolb’s scowling face -- all accompanied by the seething guitars of Metallica’s “Enter Sandman.”

The crowd at Turner Field barely reacts to all the commotion. The booming pronouncement -- “Now pitching for the Atlanta Braves -- Daaaan Kollllb!” -- draws a ripple of polite applause.

That’s it.

Clearly, the Braves’ new closer has yet to win over the fans.

Kolb knew that acceptance in Atlanta wouldn’t be easy, not when he was stepping into a role held the last three years by the best closer and one of the most popular players in Braves’ history, John Smoltz.

The first month didn’t make things any easier: Kolb lost a couple of games, blew a save, almost gave away another game in New York and struggled with his control.

Heading into the weekend, he was among the NL leaders with eight saves -- but had an ERA of 6.00. His 10 walks in 12 innings also were troubling.

“A lot of it was coming into a new place and putting so much pressure on myself,” Kolb said. “I’ve got to remember what I did last year. That’s what got me here.”

Kolb had a breakthrough season with the Milwaukee Brewers, making the All-Star game on his way to 39 saves. Then he was traded to the Braves, who saw an opportunity to bolster their rotation by returning Smoltz to his former role.

A starter most of his career, Smoltz thrived at finishing games. He had 144 saves over the last three years, sending the crowds at Turner Field into a frenzy every time he emerged from the bullpen to the sounds of AC/DC’s hard-rock anthem, “Thunderstruck.”

But Smoltz longed to start again, and the Braves were able to fulfill that wish when Kolb became available. Still, the move left some big shoes to fill on the field and plenty of skepticism in the stands.

Kolb came into a game Wednesday with a three-run lead. When he walked the first hitter, the fans began to grumble. When he unleashed a wild pitch all the way to the backstop, a few boos were heard. When he finally threw a strike after a visit from pitching coach Leo Mazzone, the sarcastic cheers were deafening.

“I can’t tell you what the fans said,” Kolb insisted. “I don’t even know they’re there.”

He settled down, retired the next three hitters and walked off the field to authentic cheers. For a fleeting moment, there was a touch of acceptance.

But Kolb isn’t Smoltz. Never will be. The new closer doesn’t have an overpowering repertoire, the kind of pitches that buckle knees and make hitters look feeble. Kolb relies mainly on the movement of his fastball and would prefer to get through an inning with three ground balls rather than three strikeouts.

Over the last three seasons, Smoltz had 243 strikeouts in 226 1/3 innings. Kolb, on the other hand, managed only 21 strikeouts in 57 1/3 innings last year -- the first closer to record at least 30 saves with fewer than 30 Ks.

“When you get three outs, you get three outs,” Smoltz said. “If everyone can get away from how it looks, he’ll do just fine. He’s not going to strike guys out, but he’s got some nasty movement.”

Kolb doesn’t deal well with failure. After a poor outing, he’ll sulk back to his home and try to figure out what went wrong. He’ll put in a video of the game, poring over every pitch in excruciating detail.

It’s useless trying to sleep. Sometimes he’ll sneak in an hour or two, but usually he’s so frustrated that he makes it through the night with his eyes wide open.

“A couple of nights this year,” Kolb said, “I haven’t gone to bed.”

Publicly, at least, the Braves have no complaints about the way he’s pitched.

“Numbers for a closer are misleading. They can have three good outings in a row, but one bad one skews the numbers,” Mazzone said. “Coming into a new environment, I think he’s off to a pretty good start.”

Kolb hasn’t yet come around to the Mazzone mantra -- work off the fastball and change speeds. The fastball is fine, but the rest is still a work in progress.

Mazzone has taken some tentative steps toward developing an off-speed pitch that Kolb will be comfortable throwing. The longtime pitching coach has no complaints about Kolb’s 90-plus mph fastball, mixed in with the occasional slider.

“He gets a lot of ground balls by throwing a very ‘heavy’ ball,” Mazzone said. “It’s like a bowling ball.”

Having spent most of his career with non-contending teams in Texas and Milwaukee, Kolb is still trying to get adjusted to pitching for the Braves. This is an organization that has won 13 straight division titles and intends to keep that streak going.