McDowell upbeat despite Braves? mounting injuries
Roger McDowell came to Atlanta with a reputation for having a good sense of humor.
He has needed it in his first season as a major league pitching coach.
With left-hander Horacio Ramirez the latest in a long line of Braves injured pitchers, McDowell has been left with only two constants – John Smoltz and Tim Hudson – in a patchwork starting rotation.
McDowell didn?t think he?d have to spend much of the season looking for starters. At the end of spring training, the main problem was trying to narrow the list of six starting candidates down to five. The temporary answer had John Thomson opening the season in the bullpen, but that changed when Ramirez went on the disabled list for the first of three times.
Thomson has missed 40 games with two trips to the disabled list. Kyle Davies has been out since May with a torn groin muscle. Chuck James missed 30 games with a hamstring injury. Mike Hampton has been out all season recovering from Tommy John surgery.
The results have at times been ugly, though Hudson and James combined for strong back-to-back starts Tuesday and Wednesday against the Phillies. The bullpen wasted James? six strong innings by allowing eight runs in the seventh inning in Wednesday?s 9-3 loss.
?I never like to think we could have a worse inning or a worse nine innings,? Smoltz said. ?It seems like that?s what is happened lately. As soon as we?re starting to feel good about things, something like that happens. It?s a sign of our season.?
The bullpen has received most of the criticism, but the starting rotation has fallen far short of the standards set under Leo Mazzone since the Braves began their run of division titles in 1991.
Braves starters are only 32-46. They have made only 49 quality starts – pitching six or more innings while allowing no more than three runs – in 113 games.
Ten pitchers have made at least one start, and Smoltz is the only healthy starter on the active roster with an ERA below 4.50. Ramirez, at 5-5 with a 4.48 ERA, probably will land on the DL Saturday and miss at least a month, if not the rest of the season.
McDowell has turned to Jason Shiell, Lance Cormier and, come Saturday, Kevin Barry, to fill the spots behind Smoltz and Hudson.
Smoltz, 9-5 with a 3.54 ERA, is scheduled to start Friday night when the Braves open a weekend home series against Milwaukee. Hudson, 9-10 with a 4.98 ERA, has struggled most of the year, but at least he has made all his starts.
Through it all, McDowell has tried to remain positive. He said he can?t complain about having to get by with a patchwork rotation.
?It?s all I know,? he said. ?It?s the norm, because obviously this being my first year as a pitching coach in the major leagues, it?s all I?ve seen.?
Braves manager Bobby Cox, known for his always positive reviews of his players and coaches, insists ?I?m not sugar-coating it? as he praises McDowell?s work.
?He?s been dynamite,? Cox said Wednesday. ?Pitchers love him. Players love him. He brings a lot to the table.?