Happy Birthday to John Smoltz, Hall of Fame Pitcher, who spent twenty-one of his twenty-two-year career with the Atlanta Braves. During his career, Smoltz established himself not only as a dominant Starting Pitcher but also as a dominant Closer. He’s better remembered along with Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine as “The Big Three.” 

MARCH 20: Tom Glavine, John Smoltz, and Greg Maddux of the Atlanta Braves pose for a portrait during Spring Training on March 20, 1999. (Photo by Sporting News via Getty Images)

John Smoltz Career (1988-2009):

213-155 W-L, 3.33 ERA, 1.176 WHIP, 3,473.0 IP, 3,084 SO, 154 SV

  • 8x All-Star
  • 1996 Cy Young
  • 2002 NL Rolaids Relief Man Award

Before 1996, his 29 seasons, Smoltz was a pretty good Starting Pitcher, but in 1996 Smoltz posted a 24–8 record, a 2.94 ERA, and 276 strikeouts in 253.2 Innings. Considering that his career took place in the Steroid Era, his lifetime statistics are impressive. But what was even better was John Smoltz pitching in the postseason. In 41 appearances in the postseason, Smoltz was 15-4, with a 2.67 ERA, 1.144 WHIP, and 199 Strikeouts, in 209 Innings Pitched. He missed the entire 2000 season recovering from Tommy John Surgery, and after performing terribly in 2001 as a starter, the Braves made him the team’s new Closer. The following year he was a finalist for the Cy Young Awards as a Closer with 55 Saves. That year, he’d be given the Rolaids Relief Man Award for the NL. In 2005, Smoltz was moved back into the Starting Rotation, and in 2006 and 2007, he finished Top-10 in Cy Young voting.

Overall, if you were coming up with an All-Time Postseason Starting Rotation, Smoltz is probably the #3 starter, behind Curt Schilling and Sandy Koufax. He and Dennis Eckersley are the only two pitchers in history to record a 20-game or more game-winning season and 50 Saves or more. Also, Smoltz is the only pitcher in baseball history to have 200 career Wins and 150 career Saves. John Smoltz is one of those pitchers you can say, “Imagine how much better he could’ve been had Steroids not been in the game.”

References:

  1. John Smoltz Career Statistics via Baseball-Reference: https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/smoltjo01.shtml
  2. John Smoltz via Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Smoltz#