Left-hander Tom Glavine is back in camp, but he won't pitch in a spring training game before mid-March. That is due in part to some slight shoulder soreness -- a repair adjunct to last season's flexor tendon surgery -- but also a self-imposed conservative throwing program.
Glavine is happy with his decision to try to pitch for another year, and he is clearly comfortable with being the Braves' fifth starter, if that's the way it works out. Which means that it will be mid-April before he is needed; he doesn't have to rush. And he doesn't have to worry about being bumped to the bullpen as the long man, not with right-hander Jorge Campillo less than stellar in the few innings he pitched before going off to play for Mexico in the World Baseball Classic.
And no matter how well right-hander Tommy Hanson pitches -- he threw 23 of 29 pitches for strikes in his first spring training start -- he will not bump Glavine out of the rotation. Hanson has not yet pitched in Class AAA, and the Braves are steadfast in their decision not to rush Hanson to the majors.
Glavine is content with his role and his one-year, $1 million contract. He can earn more in time- and pitching-related benchmarks, and he is the rare athlete who is realistic about his worth in the marketplace.
Glavine's flexor tendon injury turned out to be a luxury of sorts. He had to have surgery anyway for his future quality of life, and the enforced layoff and rehab gave him time to discover that yes, he did want to pitch this season.
But he will not embarrass himself. His arrival in camp and his place on the roster are not an exercises in nostalgia. No less an authority than newly retired Greg Maddux said he learned from Glavine how to take his turn every time no matter what, and work with the stuff he had. Meaning that when the Braves need a fifth starter, they will be turning the ball over to a pro's pro.
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