With the Red Sox, Smoltz was 2-5 with an ERA of 8.33. With the Cardinals, it has been a totally different story. In four starts, he’s 1-1 with a 3.27 ERA. In 22 innings with St. Louis, he has 28 strikeouts and only one walk.

Smoltz’ next start was going to be on Monday against the Florida Marlins. Instead, his next start will likely be against the Chicago Cubs on September 20th.

The Cardinals can afford to play it safe with Smoltz, who said that he could pitch if it were a playoff game. St. Louis is 84-59 and leads the NL Central by 10.5 games ahead of the Chicago Cubs.

John Smoltz - St. Louis Cardinals (Image: Zuma Press)

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John Smoltz Forced to Miss Start

With Boston, Smoltz was 2-5 with an ugly ERA of 8.32. His final start was particularly bad — giving up eight runs against the New York Yankees in less than four innings.

But given that Smoltz has a good shot at making the Hall of Fame and the fact that a team won’t have to invest very much money when signing him, it’s not too much of a surprise that so many teams are interested. Those teams reportedly include the Florida Marlins, Texas Rangers, Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago Cubs, Milwaukee Brewers and St. Louis Cardinals.

The other possibility for Smoltz is to simply retire. If he doesn’t think he’s healthy enough or able to pitch well, he may opt to walk away from the mound for good.

John Smoltz Rumors (Image: Zuma Press)

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Where Will John Smoltz Pitch?

As they try to figure out what is wrong with him, the Boston Red Sox have told Matsuzaka that he will skip his next start. In Matsuzaka’s place, the Red Sox will go with John Smoltz, who will be making his season debut.

Last season, Matsuzaka was 18-3 with a 2.90 ERA. He appeared to be well worth the huge contract he received prior to the 2007 season. This year? Not so much.

In eight starts, Matsuzaka has an 8.23 ERA with a record of 1-5. In 35 innings of work, he’s given up 59 hits, 18 walks and eight homers.

Red Sox manager Terry Francona thinks he knows where Matsuzaka’s struggles originate.

Said Francona: “It all started with the WBC. It’s become obvious that his velocity wasn’t what it was.”

Sources in Boston are split about whether Matsuzaka is simply fatigued or may have something physically ailing him. Just to make sure, the Red Sox are going to put him through a full medical exam.

Daisuke Matsuzaka - Boston Red Sox (Image: Zuma Press)

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Daisuke Matsuzaka to Skip Start