By Corey R. Cunningham
Atlanta SP Randall Delgado received his first start of the 2012 season on Thursday, at Houston. Delgado was battling all spring long for a fight to get the 5th and final starting spot for the braves with Tim Hudson out at least until the end of April. Delgado was able to beat out top prospect RHP Julio Teheran.
Even though Delgado received his first win with the Braves, it was against the Houston Astros, and the Astros are predicted to have one of the lowest scoring offenses in baseball this year. With aging Carlos Lee playing 1B, and youngsters in JD Martinez, Jose Altuve, and Jordan Schaffer it is hard to predict the Astros will score this year.
Delgado went 5 innings, allowing 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 HR, walking 2 and did get 6 K in the books. Delgado holds a 3.60 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP. If the weather plays out right, as well as my calculations, Delgado should be facing NY Mets, Arizona Diamondbacks and the Pittsburgh Pirates in his next 3 starts. None of these starts are automatic wins, however, at least the Mets start he has an opportunity to produce some good numbers. The Diamondbacks like the Pirates can and will hit the ball all over the ball park.
If you have an extra slot due to a player going on the DL, you might want to add Delgado for a start coming up in the next week with the Mets coming into Atlanta.
Once Hudson returns from the DL, look for Delgado to get dropped back down to AAA barring any injuries from any of the starting pitchers now, however, if you can you might want to hold onto him, as come August or September he will be on the roster for the Braves.
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