Jair Jurrjens: Only The Beginning

I'm not so sure who got the better deal- the Detroit Tigers or the Atlanta Braves. I'm sure the majority of Braves nation thought general manager Frank Wren made an amateur, bone-head decision when trading all-star Edgar Renteria (plus cash) to Detroit for the two young prospects, Jair Jurrjens and Gorkys Hernandez. I mean, let's face it, Renteria was a pivotal and very solid piece of the Braves lineup. He provided that selfless, number two spot in the lineup that didn't mind sacrificing his numbers to move runners over. Oh yeah, and who could just forget and do away with his defensive ability. I think Renteria probably did more than he was recognized for while with the Braves.

Frank Wren saw differently though.

While platooning with Kelly Johnson at second base during the 2007 season, Yunel Escobar proved he was more than capable of being an everyday MLB player while batting .326, collecting 104 hits in 319 at bats, and proving to be a very talented defensive infielder. With this in mind, Wren saw that taking a chance by trading Renteria for Hernandez, and especially Jurrjens could possibly prove to be really helpful for the club, knowing that the lack of pitching depth is undoubtedly responsible for not reaching the playoffs in two straight years.

Though I'm not so sure Braves fans and even Wren, for that matter, knew exactly what they were getting with Jair Jurrjens. The only concrete bit of information they could rely on were his stats from his 30 innings pitched while with the Tigers in 2007, and Tiger's manager Jim Leyland's boasting words for him [Jurrjens].

After coming off of his first start with Atlanta, all questions about the young pitcher were answered. Jurrjens enjoyed a successful debut when he limited the Pirates to two earned runs in 5 1/3 innings and got the win. He demonstrated brilliant command with all of his pitches and allowed a great deal of ground ball outs. With Jurrjens, the Braves have a rising star who will not give up many walks.

The young right-hander is making his first career start at Coors Field vs. Ubaldo Jimenez and the Rockies at 8:35 ET tonight in Denver.

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Next:

-Wednesday: Braves (Chuck James, 0-0, -.--) at Rockies (Mark Redman, 0-1, 6.35), 8:35 p.m.

-Thursday: Braves (Tim Hudson, 1-0, 3.46) at Rockies (Jeff Francis, 0-1, 7.11), 3:05 p.m.

-Friday: Braves (John Smoltz, 1-0, 0.00) at Nationals (Matt Chico, 0-1, 5.56), 7:35 p.m.