John Smoltz is just 4 strike outs away to becoming the 16th pitcher in MLB history with at least 3,000 K's.
One thing that makes Smoltz a unique member of the club is the years he spent as a closer. Smoltz has 154 saves in 241 career relief appearances. Smoltz will become the only member of the club with more than 35 career saves. Second on the list is Hall of Famer Walter Johnson who saved 34 games in his career.
Smoltzie also distinguishes himself by becoming the 6th fastest pitcher to reach 3,000K's assuming he does it sometime soon.
The only pitchers who have reached this milestone in fewer innings are Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez, Nolan Ryan, Curt Shilling and Roger Clemens. Maybe we can get Isleib to write a story on the phenomenon of the strikeout pitcher in an effort to examine why the top of this list is so heavily laden with pitchers from the past two decades.
You have to think the milestone will be on Smoltzie's mind tomorrow night as he goes for the K's early and often. I wouldn't be surprised to see him a little wilder tomorrow night than normal as he fights the jitters and overthrows early.
There's no reason to think he can't do it tomorrow. Smotlz struck out 10 Marlins in his last start and the Nats have a light hitting line up full of free swingers.
I'm going to go out on a limb and say that his 3,000th K comes in the 4th inning with Lastings Milledge at the plate.
For a complete coverage of record chase check out the official website of the Atlanta Braves.
1 comment:
It's unfortunate that Smoltz had to take a L on the night he got number 3000.
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