Baseball Hall Of Famer Puts Brewers' Logan Henderson In Rarefied Air With High Praise

The Braves legend dished heavy praise for Henderson, putting him the same conversation as a two-time NL Cy Young award winner

Sep 3, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Logan Henderson (43) delivers the ball during the first inning against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

National Baseball Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez gave advice to Milwaukee Brewers ace Jacob Misiorowski with an uplifting message recently.

The Miz followed with arguably the worst start of short MLB career on Wednesday night vs. the Chicago Cubs.

Martinez's fellow 2015 Hall of Fame inductee John Smoltz took time to share heavy praise for Misiorowski's rotation-mate -- rising star Logan Henderson -- ahead of the latter's start Thursday against the Cubs.

Henderson responded with a seven-inning effort where he allowed just two runs on three hits, no walks and seven strikeouts in a tough-luck loss.

Smoltz won the 1996 NL Cy Young award as a starting pitcher with the Atlanta Braves and later transitioned to become a dominant closer with the team.

The now-59-year-old led MLB with a career-high 55 saves during the 2002 campaign, the same year that Henderson was born.

Smoltz is currently a color commentator for MLB on FOX and was on the microphone for Henderson's start Thursday.

"There have been, like, five instances that I can remember where I’ve gone up to someone (and tell them) I really admire the way they go about (pitching)," Smoltz said, per MLB.com's Adam McCalvy. "He’s one that has stood out. It was the game in L.A. that I remember first."

Henderson's start that Smoltz was referring to came on Aug. 16 vs. the two-time defending-champion Los Angeles Dodgers, when the youngster outdueled two-time reigning AL Cy Young award winner Tarik Skubal.

John Smoltz Mentions Two-Time NL Cy Young Award Winner When Discussing Henderson

Jul 26, 2026; Cooperstown, NY, USA; Hall of Famer John Smoltz is introduced during the National Baseball Hall of Fame Induction ceremony at Clark Sports Center. Mandatory Credit: Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Henderson, ironically, was heavily rumored to be the Detroit Tigers' main target in their trade negotiations with the Brewers earlier this summer when Skubal was still up for grabs.

Based on Smoltz's praise, it looks like Milwaukee made a good decision to hang onto the former fourth-round pick.

"This guy knows how to pitch," the eight-time All-Star said, according to McCalvy. "So when I ran into him, I was like, 'I love watching you pitch.' I’ve done that with Jake deGrom, Zack Wheeler and some others. When somebody stands out and doesn’t look like the rest, yeah, I probably gravitate toward them because I want that guy to be successful."

Henderson still has a long way to go, but anytime you're mentioned in the same breath as two-time NL Cy Young Award winner Jacob deGrom and three-time All-Star Zack Wheeler, that's a good thing.

The Brewers' right-hander is 9-3 with a 2.48 ERA, 0.79 WHIP and 93 strikeouts across 83 1/3 innings pitched covering 15 starts this season.