In an interview with the New York Daily News, soon-to-be-inducted Baseball Hall of Famer John Smoltz had some high praise for the Mets’ young pitching quintet of Matt Harvey, Zack Wheeler, Noah Syndergaard, Steven Matz and Jacob deGrom.
“They’re way better,” Smoltz told Daniel Popper. “They’ve got more talent than we could ever have.”
The legendary braves rotations of the 1990s that Smoltz pitched on included three Hall of Famers including Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine along with Smoltz, and helped the Braves to 16 consecutive division titles and a World Series title in 1995.
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Hyperbole much, Smoltzie?
Perhaps a little bit, plus when asked the question, what do you expect him to say? Plus factoring in the offense-dominated era in which those 90s Braves rotations accoplished their dominance and the pitching-dominated one we’re in now, I’d have to say the 90s Braves rotations were better.
I think its genuine. Also, hes talking about raw talent, not how accomplished the rotation is. Funny, now that we dont have to face Smoltz, I enjoy hearing his commentary and game coverage. hes one of the few Braves that managed to break free of thinking that ATL is the center of the universe. Hes a pitcher, and he likes what he sees in NY…we do too!
While his quote is getting a lot of attention now, it is not the first time Ive heard it from him. Smoltz is also an advocate of “not all innings are created equal” when it comes to managing the starting rotation.
If Smolz is correct then this is going to be some ride the next 5 years. Met baseball may become must see TV because on any given day a no hitter could be pitched. The Met ” rotation” may be better than the Braves because there are 5 and not three but the Met rotation has a long way to go before there can be talk of comparisons to the Braves Big Three with all those Cy Young Awards and HOF plaques. As a Met fan I appreciate the compliment from such an outstanding pitcher.
I was blown away by this comment. Agree that 5 pitchers probably played a part of his point. He also made a critical point that it’s unlikely these five young guys will stay together the same way Maddux, Glavine and Smoltz did. Unless, of course, a miracle happens.
What was remarkable about the Braves trio was that
-they held together for so long. They pitched together from 93-99, with only the injury to Smoltz doing the trio in. Is there any trio of SP in baseball the past few years that have had 4 or 5 consecutive years pitched together? t
-they were all in prime ages during their time together with great successes already in their back pockets. In 93- their first years together, Glavine and Maddux were both 27 and had already won CY awards and Smoltz was 26. Contrast that to Mets, who boast 5 SP all with different ages. Noah is 22, Matz is 24, Wheeler 25, Harvey 26, and deGrom 27. By the time Noah reaches his prime years, deGrom may very well be washed up.
In conclusion, there have been single season trios which probably have had more success than the Braves, such as the Phillies in 2011, but their durability and longevity is what makes them so special.
09-13 — Arroyo, Bailey, Cueto
10-14 — Porcello, Scherzer, Verlander
10-15 — Bumgarner, Cain, Lincecum
Those teams were well represented in the playoffs, too
The minimum that the Braves trio had was 21 starts/134 IP by Smoltz in 94. Aside from that the next lowest was 25 starts. Let’s set 25 starts as a full season and allowing 1 season of 20-25 starts
Homer Bailey missed those marks 3 times from 09-11.
Cain missed that mark in 14 and will likely miss this year as well.
Only Detriot’s trio makes the cut.
From that short list, it seems like the trios are mostly composed of two good pitchers and a backend/#5 type guy and they were capped at 5 years. But even if you just miss and come close to the high marks sets by the Braves, you’ll still get plenty of postseason action.
Found another one.
A’s 2000-2004.
Also made the playoffs 4 of the 5 years.