Both Mike Hampton and Paul Byrd will begin the season on the DL...Hampton has a strained right calf and Byrd a sore elbow. This might help keep the Braves from getting off to a fast start in the NL East. I can't exactly say that would make me unhappy.

"Strained right calf" sounds like the type of thing that should cause Hampton to miss only a few starts.
On the other hand, "sore elbow" sounds like a season long problem to me.
Maybe, finally, the Braves are breaking down. And with AOL stock sliding deeper and deeper down the toilet, I don't see how the Braves can afford to go out and buy some reinforcements.

That's why they play the games, all 162 of them. Larry Bowa isn't exactly happy about how the Phillies have broken camp either.

The way they were slammed this afternoon by the Marlins (!) you may be right. I'd be happy to massage Mikey Hampton's calf (or any other part of him that needs stimulation).

Can you believe they lost 17-1 against the friggin' Marlins? And Maddux is one of my premier Fantasy SP's! eek! :confused:

The Braves played so poorly Saturday it was almost fun to watch. They have some cuties now, too. Anybody notice that one of the Braves' pitchers is named Bong? (Huh-huh-huh.)

Bet he's pretty easy to hit

Gosh, it's like the Braves have reverted to their mid-80's form--the only reasons to watch then were to laugh at them and/or ogle Dale Murphy, who stil holds a place in my heart.

~Adam

Well, Maddux had a poor outing again giving up 9 runs, 6 earned in 6 innings against the Phillies. He even had a fielding error. He just does not look like the same pitcher he has been over the past decade. Maybe he needs to go on the DL.

And Paul Byrd will have elbow surgery Friday to remove a bone spur. It's not known when he'll return. To think, he nearly signed with the Phils.

After three starts, Maddux has an ERA of 11.05. That's more than one run an inning. This is not a slump. It's a sign that's something's horribly wrong. Pitchers don't suddenly pull it together after three starts with a double-digit ERA.

There are only two explanations:
a. An injury that Maddux isn't telling us about. He claims he's healthy, and that the problem is "location," which means that the only other possible explanation is ...
b. It's over. He turns 37 on Monday. That's not an unexpected age to suddenly fall behind the rest of baseball. He's lost just enough of an edge, just enough sharpness, that anyone good enough to play in the majors can take batting practice off him. The Phillie offense is good, but he was even worse in his last start against Florida, a team that should end up with the weakest offense in the NL.

Here's hoping he goes on the DL. It's the benign explanation.

Watching Maddux, I can't help but think of Mark Wohlers - great pitcher, etc, who suddenly just flamed out. Another Brave who seemed to just lose it was Steve Avery. I'm not even sure where (if anywhere) he is now, though I seem to recall reading he had signed with some team.

What's bad too for Maddux is that every terrible start like this is bound to chip away at his confidence, which will put him at a disadvantage before he even gets on the mound, which could contribute to more bad starts, which will chip away at the old confidence, etc. I know he's a great athlete and probably has ways of dealing with stuff like this, but it's got to be tough.

eek! eek! (Head explodes at Mark Wohlers being labeled "great" in the same sentence with a future Hall-of-Famer...)

While the unspoken injury theory is certainly plausible, let's give GM more than 3 starts before consigning him to the scrap heap, shall we?

Wohlers was pretty good while it lasted, as I recall. There are obviously various degrees of greatness. I understand your point about premature criticism, but three spectacularly awful starts that almost singlehandedly produced lopsided defeats are definitely cause for concern, in my book.

For what it's worth, I have this weird attraction to Maddux, I think he's a total cutie even though he's not Brady Anderson hot.

People want so badly for the Braves to stumble after all their years of success that they're exaggerating what's going on. Yes, Maddux is having some kind of trouble and the 3-6 start to the season is cause for concern, but there's a lot of baseball left to be played and it's way too early to write off any team, particularly a team that's won 11 straight division titles. Their run is going to end sooner or later, sure, but a bad start to the season isn't enough of a reason for me to pronounce them over the hill just yet

Go Braves!

Maybe Maddux just misses canoodling with Glavine.

~Adam

I'm not writing the Braves off, it just looks like one of their pitchers (their most important pitcher) is having a pretty brutal time, and if he doesn't get back to his old self the team is going to have some problems. Not season-destroying problems, maybe, but problems none the less.

[ April 10, 2003, 10:22 AM: Message edited by: William1865 ]

Well now he can canoodle with Shane Reynolds. The former Astro signed with the Braves for a 1 year, $300,000 contract.

Maddux's problem is that he's leaving the ball up in the strike zone. (Right Ump?) Maddux has never been a power pitcher (Koufax, Johnson), nor has he had an exceptional curve (Morris, Cone), nor slider (Clemens, Baez). His fastball high was about 89-90 at best. His precision, his ability to use his changeup, and his keeping the ball down, have put on the road to the Hall of Fame (Four Cy Youngs, 10+ years with 15 or more wins, etc.). Maddux also made an error on the mound, though he is arguably one of the best fielding pitchers in the game. This is definitely a bad start for him, but I think he still has at least a year or two left in his incredible arm.

CITT, I disagree about the 3 bad starts in a row necessarily meaning something's horribly wrong. It might be, but sometimes it can be some minor technical glitch that's correctible when discovered. I remember Jimmy Key (a somewhat similar style of pitcher, though left handed) starting out the 1986 season so horrendously his ERA was over 13 through SEVEN starts, only to suddenly right himself and pitch with an ERA below 3 the rest of the way.

I'm second-guessing myself (a bit) that three horrible starts is a trend, but there's a big difference between Jimmy Key 1986 and Greg Maddux 2003. Key was 25 years old, second full season in the big leagues (third total) and just learning how to be a major league pitcher. Maddux is a 36 (soon 37) year old veteran who knows all about being a big leaguer.

I think it's highly unlikely that it's a minor mechanical flaw that is easily corrected. Maddux is too smart about how to pitch to have not corrected any correctable flaws. But it's possible. Just not plausible. I still think that the only plausible explanations are the ones I mentioned: undisclosed (possibly undiagnosed) injury, or he's lost just enough of that thin edge that separates extraordinary from ordinary among the players at the highest levels of the game.

Read today that Maddux has given up 6 homers in his 3 starts. Last year he didn't give up his 6th homer until June.

Well Maddux gave up only 1 run on 2 hits in six innings in the Braves win over the Marlins today. Still think they'll miss Glavine and especially Millwood though.

Well, Maddux's ERA is now down to 4.74 (2.33 in his last 6 starts), so whatever it was, it wasn't serious.

As I said earlier, it's way to early in the season to be judging Maddux's season. I always knew he would pull through this just fine.

Seeing how he struggled so much early, it's not outside of the realm of possibility that he'll struggle again before the season is over.

We all are allowed to struggle some time. That's what great about being human!
Besides, Maddox has a great group of teamates and coaches to pick him up when he falls. Baseball is such a great team sport. Don't you think?

With last night's win over Los Angeles, the Braves are assured of their ninth consecutive series win and go for the sweep tonight again Kevin Brown. They now officially have the best record in baseball at 27-12. Not bad after starting out with a 4-8 record! The Braves pitching staff looks as solid as ever with Mad Dog back on track and Russ Ortiz, Shane Reynolds, and Mike Hampton filling out the majority of the rotation. All is right with the universe once more.

Go Braves!

Elsewhere in the NL East, why can't the Mets win? Living in NYC, I have alot of friends who are Mets fans and since Glavine has joined the team, I've been more inclined to keep up with them. They have so much talent, it doesn't make sense for them to be blowing a 7-0 Glavine shutout. Their lineup looks about as close to a fantasy league lineup as you're gonna get in the majors, with the possible exception of the Yankees, so why aren't they having any success? It makes no sense to me.