I was somehow channeling Terrence Moore today when I realized that this year's Atlanta Braves rotation might be the most diverse we've ever had:
- Derek Lowe, born in Dearborn, Michigan, USA
- Javier Vazquez, born in Ponce, Puerto Rico
- Jair Jurrjens, born in Willemstad, Netherland Antilles (I wonder if he's related to Wedge Antilles)
- Kenshin Kawakami, born in Tokushima, Japan
- Tom Glavine, born in Concord, Mass, USA
Consider that if Glavine can't go and we use Jorge Campillo, who was born in Tijuana, Mexico, we would have a rotation in which no two players were from the same country. That's a far cry from the boring white guy rotations of Braves past.
In a non-T.Moore related thought, our triple-A rotation (I keep writing Richmond instead of Gwinnett, arg) could conceivably be closer to how the major league rotation ended last season than this year's major league rotation will be to start this season. In the last two months of last season, the "Atlanta" Braves used the guys that will likely make up 80% of Gwinnett's rotation, Jo-Jo Reyes, Charlie Morton (when healthy), Jorge Campillo, and James Parr. The only guy who ended the year in the major league rotation and will return there to open this season is Jair Jurrjens.
It's a pretty good problem to have when all but one of your triple-A rotation starters have major league experience, and the one guy who doesn't is better than all of them and might be the first to get the call to the majors.
Random thought: Javier Vazquez is going to have the best season of any Braves starter because Derek Lowe is going to slow a lot of bats down when he faces the same team on the day before Javy pitches.