Hampton's Knee Surgery

Hampton's knee surgery turns into big procedure

After struggling in the opening halves of his two seasons with the Braves, Mike Hampton could have an excuse if he stumbled out of the blocks again this year. But the left-hander doesn't foresee that happening after undergoing surgery on his left knee. His October procedure was more complicated than Hampton or his doctors anticipated. It was not just a mere cartilage cleanup, but a bone graft that entailed removing a wedge from one section of the knee to repair the damaged, weight-bearing area.

After numerous hours of rehabilitation and fluid-drainage sessions, Hampton started throwing two weeks ago off a mound he had installed at his home in Homosassa, Fla. "We're not there yet, but it's getting better," said Hampton, 32, who reported to Leo Mazzone's minicamp at Turner Field on Monday and threw for the pitching coach. "Last year it hurt just walking; it's definitely a lot better now than last year."

Hampton tore cartilage in his left knee during a Sept. 11 start vs. Montreal, but opted to delay surgery so he could keep pitching through the end of the regular season and playoffs. He allowed one run in 13 innings while winning his two regular-season starts after the the injury, then limited Houston hitters to two runs and a .174 batting average over 7 1/3 innings of one start and one relief appearance in the Braves' division series loss. If Atlanta had made it to the NL Championship Series, he would have started Game 1. "I told him he pitched so good with his sore knee, maybe he shouldn't get it fixed," joked Mazzone. "What he means to our rotation ... he's one of the top left-handers in the National League."

He's been that for Atlanta, but only after the All-Star break. Since being traded to the Braves in November 2002, Hampton is 9-13 with a 4.99 ERA in 33 starts before the break and 18-4 with a 3.00 ERA in 27 starts after the break. Last year he was 2-8 with a 5.55 ERA through 15 starts, then went 11-1 with a 3.02 ERA beginning July 4, including 3-0 with a 0.71 ERA in his last four regular-season starts. The two-half dichotomy is a recent development for Hampton — and a confounding one. Before coming to Atlanta his career record was 13 games over .500 (58-45) before the All-Star break and 12 games over .500 (48-36) after it.