Right-handers Jason Schmidt and Jason Marquis are both pitchers the Braves organization grew impatient with and sent elsewhere, only to see them blossom. Left-hander Jo-Jo Reyes and right-hander Charlie Morton might join them in Braves lore.
After sticking up for Reyes in no uncertain terms before the All-Star break, manager Bobby Cox is doing that no longer. "He'd better be throwing strikes," Cox said before Reyes was recalled to face the Mets last week. Alas, he wasn't. Reyes fell behind in the count to virtually every batter early, which naturally led to early inning deficits the Braves could not overcome. The few 1-2-3 innings Reyes had came after the damage had been done.
Reyes has been working on adjustments to his delivery with pitching coach Roger McDowell. He appears to have mastered them in side sessions, but in a game facing live batters, he reverts to what he has been more comfortable with.
Morton seems to be in the pitching doghouse slightly less, but then he was not talked up as much as Reyes has been over the last two seasons. And Morton's difficulties sound more like a lack of confidence than lack of skill. Morton struggles to stay focused pitch to pitch.
"I know there is a difference between major league and minor league hitters, but is there an eight-run difference?" he asked mournfully in his first tour with the Braves this season.
Schmidt, in his breakout year with the Giants, recalled that he was on the mound in the middle of a game when suddenly, things former Braves teammate Greg Maddux had told him years before kicked in and made his career. (Note that it was what Maddux said, not any pitching coach.) The question for Reyes and Morton is whether they will still be Braves when the light dawns for them.
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