Jair is Da’ Man for Braves

Jair Jurrjens has not lost since his May 12 start at Pittsburg. In his past three starts the 22 year-old righty has not given up an earned run in 21.2 innings, and has 13 strikeouts. In fact, Jurrjens has given up more than four earned runs in only two starts all season, June 5th against Florida, and May 31st at Cincinnati. Da’ rookie has quiet honestly been da’ man for Bobby Cox and the Braves.

He has also been da’ savior for a team that has seen it’s pitching staff hit hard with injuries. With John Smoltz out for the season, the Braves were in desperate need for somebody to pick up their game and become a solid number two starter. The truth is that Jurrjens may have done more than that. He may be the ace.

Jurrjens leads the team in wins (8-3) and after Friday nights masterful performance he now leads the team in ERA (2.94). The rookie pitched eight scoreless innings and gave up only three hits agains the Blue Jays in Toronto.

When the Braves traded for Jurrjens in the off-season, he was considered a side note in a transaction that was meant to be nothing more than an effort to dump the salary of Edgar Renteria. Now that Tom Glavine has made his second trip to the disabled list, and Mike Hampton has yet to make a start, the efforts of Jurrjens could be all that has kept the Braves in the NL East race.

If Glavine and Hampton are able to find their way back into the starting rotation sometime in July, the Braves could end up with one of the best rotations in the national league. Jorge Campillo and Jo-Jo Reyes have also been solid for the Braves. This means that eventually the Braves will be demoting a very good pitcher to the ‘pen. With the loss of Rafael Soriano to some kind of mysterious injury, this could be a welcomed move.

With all the moves that the Braves have made in the past year, including the trade for Teixeira, the addition of Jurrjens could be the most important. Even though Chipper Jones to this point has had the best season of his career, the most valuable player of the first half of the season could be Jair Jurrjens. In fact, you would be hard pressed to find a better 1-2 punch in the national league than Hudson and Jurrjens. Just imagine what we would be saying about this team if Smoltz were healthy.