35-year old righty starting pitcher Tim Hudson finished 4th in the N.L. in the Cy Young Award voting. Hudson started 34 games for the Braves last season and he was 17-9 with a 2.83 ERA and a 1.15 WHIP. He has now pitched in 345 games (344 starts) in his 12 years in the majors and he is 165-87 with a 3.42 ERA and a 1.25 WHIP. Hudson’s pitching was a big reason why the Braves made the playoffs last season and they hope he will be sharp again in 2011.

25-year old lefty reliever Jonny Venters finished tied for 8th for the N.L. Rookie of the Year Award with Pirates outfielder Jose Tabata. Venters pitched in 79 games (0 starts) for the Braves last season and he was 4-4 with 1 save, a 1.95 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP. Venters only allowed 61 hits while whiffing 93 batters in only 83 innings which shows how nasty he was and can be. Venters did walk 39 batters last season so he does have some control issues to iron out. Venters has a outstanding upside and he could be the Braves’ closer as early as 2011.

21-year old lefty swinging RF Jason Heyward finished 2nd in the voting for the N.L. Rookie of the Year voting behind only catcher Buster Posey of the Giants. Heyward played in 142 games for the Braves last season and he was 144 of 520 (.277 avg, .849 OPS) with 83 runs scored, 18 homers, 72 RBIs and 11 stolen bases. Despite whiffing 128 times last season he still showed good plate discipline as he walked 91 times. Heyward has a huge upside and he will be competing for MVP awards down the road.

UPDATE: (12/2/2010) - Jason Heyward also finished 20th in the voting for the N.L. MVP Award.

Bobby Cox finishes 4th in the voting for the N.L. Manager of the Year Award in his last season on the job. Cox led the Braves to a 91-71 (56.2%) record during the regular season but they were knocked out of the playoffs 3-1 by the Giants. Cox finished his career with a 2,504-2,001 (55.6%) in his 29 years in the majors as a manager during the regular season. He was also 67-69 (49.3%) during the post season. He did lead the Braves to a World Series Championship in 1995 and he will likely go into the Hall of Fame with a Braves’ cap on his head.

35-year old righty starting pitcher Tim Hudson was named the Comeback Player of the Year in the National League earlier today. Hudson only pitched in 7 games (all starts) for the Braves in 2009 as he was recovering from major surgery and he was 2-1 with a 3.61 ERA and a 1.47 WHIP. He returned in full force in 2010 for the Braves as he started 34 games for the Braves in which he was 17-9 with a 2.83 ERA and a 1.15 WHIP. Hudson has now pitched in 162 games (161 starts) in his six years with the Braves and he is 73-48 with a 3.57 ERA and a 1.28 WHIP.