News
O'Flaherty makes impressive debut
Reliever pitches 1 1/3 scoreless innings against Phillies
By Mark Bowman / MLB.com
04/08/09 3:16 PM ET
PHILADELPHIA -- While notching Tuesday night's 4-0 win over the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park, the Braves were thrilled to see two questionable components of their bullpen prove to be both healthy and effective against a potent lineup.Closer Mike Gonzalez and top setup man Rafael Soriano ended the game in the same successful fashion that the Braves hope to see on a regular basis this year. But their efforts might not have been necessary had left-handed reliever Eric O'Flaherty not made his Braves debut with 1 1/3 scoreless innings.
O'Flaherty, who was claimed off waivers from the Mariners in November, began this season as Atlanta's only left-handed middle reliever and he showed his potential while effectively handling the left-handed hitting trio of Matt Stairs, Chase Utley and Ryan Howard.
"It's always nice just to get that first one out of the way with a new team," O'Flaherty said. "But to do it with a new team in a big situation like that, it was a lot of fun."
O'Flaherty entered the game with runners on first and second and two outs in the sixth inning. His assignment was to preserve a four-run lead by first handling Stairs, who is Philadelphia's top left-handed power option off of the bench.
With some assistance from a stiff wind, O'Flaherty was able to keep Stairs from leaving the yard and minimizing Atlanta's 4-0 lead. The left-handed reliever then began the seventh inning by inducing two consecutive groundouts from switch-hitters Jimmy Rollins and Shane Victorino.
That set the stage for Philadelphia's two most dangerous left-handed hitters, Chase Utley and Ryan Howard. After Utley struck out, O'Flaherty utilized his sinker to get Howard to end the inning with another ground out.
Eight of O'Flaherty's 20 pitches were sliders that caught the attention of both manager Bobby Cox and pitching coach Roger McDowell.
"His slider was better last night than I saw at any time during Spring Training," McDowell said. "That's key for him against left-handers. He also has a good sinking fastball and a good changeup, so he's very complimentary on both sides of the plate."
After gaining confidence in O'Flaherty's ability to handle both left-handed and right-handed hitters, the Braves found themselves encouraged by the velocity Soriano displayed while making his regular-season debut with the assistance of just five exhibition appearances.
While the stadium's radar gun consistently registered Soriano's fastball around 91 mph, Cox and McDowell both said it appeared that the reliever's heater had more life than that.
Soriano, who had the ulnar nerve in his right elbow transposed in August, has said that he's beginning to regain some of the arm strength that he possessed in 2007, when his fastball regularly registered 97 mph.
"I thought his fastball looked better than what it was registering on Spectra-vision or whatever that is out there," McDowell said.
Mark Bowman is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
