Smoltz Wants To Keep Pitching

While John Smoltz awaits his first major league start for the Boston Red Sox, he’s begun to talk about his future. After seeing his buddies Tom Glavine (free agent but pretty much retired) and Greg Maddux retire over the past year, you would think that’s the thought creeping into his mind. Key being, you would think. Smoltz is actually thinking about continuing his career past the 2009 season.

“The reason I had surgery was not to just come back for one year,” he said before Sunday’s game. “Having surgery certainly quality of life was part of it, but I could have waited to have that. To have surgery at this point, when I did, and not try to milk anymore of the rest of that season, the reason I did that was to pitch well beyond. I figured if I was going to have surgery and I can pitch one year, what prevents me from pitching two years. Something will have to really go wrong to say, ‘OK I did everything I could and it wasn’t working’”

Part of me isn’t surprised to hear that come from Smoltz. Why would someone at his age, 42, a player wouldn’t go have surgery and all the rehabilitation work to pitch again, for just half a season? They won’t, they would do this in hopes of extending their career.

One can’t blame him with how he was pitching at the time of his injury in June of 2008. He did have a 2.57 era after six starts. He was still pretty damn efficient and even struck out batters at a career high pace. So why wouldn’t he want to continue his career?

What it will come down to is how he performs with the BoSox this summer. Well, once he finally gets a chance to perform. His first start hasn’t been finalized yet even with him declaring that he’s ready.

His rehab assignment ends this Friday, at that point he’ll have to be called up or released. With the recent success of the Boston pitchers there is some debate about having him make one more start at Triple-A Pawtucket on Thursday. Surely something he wouldn’t want to do but has no choice in.

If he thinks he can still pitch past 2009 and proves it with his performance, then by all means the best of luck to you John. But in reality you’re with the enemy right now, so I hope you get lit the hell up (that’s the Yankee fan in me talking).

“Sometimes I sit there and go, at this current moment there isn’t going to be a next year, and then the next week there might be a next year and a year after. I just stop right there,” he explained. “I stop thinking about things like that because I used to do that all the time. I used to have things planned out three or four years in advance. There’s just no good in it anymore.”

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Tags: Boston Red Sox, John Smoltz, MLB