Joe Schulman is the author of a new column in the Kansas City Star about becoming a fan of a new baseball team. He has written for ChopTalk, the Atlanta Braves' magazine. Joe is a freelance writer in Atlanta, and he and his wife, Cady, are avid Braves fans.
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
ReitsmaIt's going around that Chris Reitsma, a former closer for the Atlanta Braves, could be heading to Kansas City. The knee jerk reaction is to look at his 2006 numbers and scream. But the truth is, Reitsma is better than 2006(8.68 ERA, 27 runs in 28 innings) and would be an asset as a setup guy on just about any team.
Back in 2005, he was the man for the Braves for most of the season before lagging a bit at the end. He was giving up about a half a run an inning from 2002 through 2005 and had an ERA that hovered around 4. While those are dominating numbers, as a setup guy they're not bad.
The other reason I like Reitsma is strictly personal. He put up with a lot of grief in Atlanta, especially after 2005, and he took it all like a professional. A friend of mine interviewed him for an article and said Reitsma never got angry with the criticism and took it all in stride.
You want a guy with that type of attitude to succeed. He's a smart pitcher who comes to the ballpark ready to go. On a younger team like the Royals, he'd be good in the clubhouse. He would also be a great setup guy for Octavio Dotel.