Tim Hudson In Prognosis Positive

Braves pitching elder statesman, Tim Hudson, underwent successful back surgery to fix a herniated disc. The old man in the rotation should be cleared to hand out hard candy to those young whippersnappers and yell “get off my lawn” by Spring Training. The surgery was overdue…

"The Braves say Hudson has had discomfort in his back the past two seasons. The surgery was scheduled after the pain became worse during his offseason workouts.Braves general manager Frank Wren said “the prognosis is positive” for Hudson to pitch in spring training."

Hudson still made 34 starts in 2010 and another 33 in 2011 with a 2.83 ERA/4.09 FIP (fielding independent pitching) and 3.22/3.39 respectively. The 36-year-old still has some gas left in the tank and will make $9M in 2012 with a club option for 2013.

If he is healthy in 2012, Hudson, at the very least, could be an attractive trading chip for the pitching rich Braves come July. In the meantime, he can teach some of the young pitchers the value of hard work and how easy they have it by telling them stories like how he used to walk to school in three feet of snow in shoes two sizes too small and then go work in the salt mines.