Kris Medlen was an afterthought. A bullpen arm or an emergency starter. A Tommy John casualty who, while likely figuring to be part of the back end of the Braves rotation one day, wasn’t supposed to be the ace. Certainly not in the 2012 pennant drive. But here we are.
Medlen extended his scoreless innings streak to 28 and a third innings last night, blanking the Padres for eight efficient innings. It was the 17th straight Medlen start the Braves have won, stretching back to 2010. That’s a bit of a gimmick stat given the time frame, but that’s the most consecutive starts a team has won for a dude since the Cardinals won 17 straight for Chris Carpenter back in 2005.
It’s worth noting, of course, that his recent hot stretch has coincided with starts against some less-than-threatening offenses. Since joining the rotation he’s faced the Marlins, the Astros, the Mets and the Padres twice. He did shut the Nationals out for seven innings, and the Padres offense, while not impressive overall, has been scoring a lot of runs of late, so it’s not nothing.
But you can’t pick your opponent, and obviously the important part of this is that the Braves biggest weakness this year — consistency in the rotation — has been squarely addressed by Medlen’s recent tear.
Also important: he works fast and throws strikes and that’s just aesthetically pleasing. Dear God why don’t more pitchers do that?
