Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
September 17, 2003
More on Maddux

Mark Bridgers writes:


The talk around Atlanta is that Maddux does not keep himself in shape, like Clemens or other pitchers. He literally runs out of gas around 80 pitches, and seems content with that. I don't think he's begging out early to protect his ERA, he just can't go more than 6 innings very often anymore. I believe that's why he didn't get any offers last offseason, and I doubt he will this one either, unless he either gets on a treadmill, or cuts his asking price dramatically.

I asked him about the famed Braves conditioning program:

The conditioning program, "Camp Leo", is optional. Maddux has never taken part. All the others, especially new guys like Hampton, Byrd, and Ortiz, show up eager to learn. Until this year, whatever Maddux did or didn't do was working quite well, so why mess with it? This year, however, his age and relative lack of condition are really showing up. It is a little sad to see the greatest pitcher of my generation not try to extend his career. At least not yet. I doubt he'll be in Atlanta next year, unless things change like I mentioned earlier.

If this is really true, maybe a game like last night will make Maddux wake up and try harder. If he got in shape enough to finish games, he might start posting 20 win seasons again.


Posted by David Pinto at 11:33 AM | Pitchers | TrackBack (1)