ATLANTA – The first time Dakota Hudson and his family left their Sequatchie County home to attend an Atlanta Braves game, he witnessed eventual Hall of Fame pitcher John Smoltz emerge from the bullpen in the twilight of his career to close out another Bravos victory at Turner Field.
“I remember my dad saying to me, ‘That’s the guy you want to be like one day,'” Hudson recalled Tuesday evening as he slipped on his No. 43 St. Louis Cardinals road jersey inside Atlanta’s second-year digs at SunTrust Park. “I watched the Braves all the time growing up.”
Almost all of major league baseball is watching Hudson now after the 6-foot-5, 215-pounder was called up to the Cards on July 27. MLB.com ranks him the organization’s third best prospect. After his 13-3 record and 2.50 earned run average as a starter at Memphis earned him Pacific Coast League pitcher of the year honors, he’s 4-1 with a 3.27 ERA coming out of the bullpen for the Redbirds.
“He’s got lots of room to grow,” said St. Louis pitching coach Mike Maddux, whose brother Greg spent much of his Hall of Fame career with the Braves. “But Dakota’s got great stuff. He’s a four-pitch guy (fastball, curve, slider and cutter), who’s got great poise, a very mature young man.”
Dakota Hudson (Photo by Kelly Price)
Mark WiedmerAt least part of that maturity has come from his new role as father. Dakota and his wife, Ashlen, became parents on May 7 with the arrival of son Nolan.