Minus Glavine and others, Braves rebuilding rotation

ATLANTA - Leo Mazzone had stopped rocking and sat up straight to make his point, so clearly he was serious. <br> <br> The Atlanta Braves pitching coach, admitted there was a little more stress than usual, adding, ``We&#39;re not used to this.&#39; <br> <br> That was a few days ago, when the Braves&#39; staff found itself in unfamiliar territory -- dead last on the National League ERA chart. <br> <br> Strong outings by freshly signed Shane Reynolds and rookie Horacio Ramirez helped move them up a bit, but the reality is sinking in: Minus Tom Glavine, Kevin Millwood and Damian Moss, this rebuilt rotation is starting over. <br> <br> On and off the field, in fact. <br> <br> John Smoltz can feel it. His eyes looked away and his voice trailed off as he talked about Glavine. <br> <br> He says he misses him, ``For 15 years, we were doing the same thing. I mean, I&#39;d wake up and not have to wonder where I was playing golf or who I was playing with. Now, I&#39;m doing a lot more organizing than I used to. It&#39;s going to take a while,&#39;&#39; he said. <br> <br> The other member of the Braves&#39; big three for all those years, Greg Maddux, echoed the same sentiment. During Atlanta&#39;s ongoing run of eleven straight division titles, it seemed as if the three Cy Young Award winners were always together in dugout. <br> <br> Now, Glavine is gone and Smoltz is in the bullpen. <br> <br> The Braves went into the weekend with a 5.39 ERA, far from impressive but a lot better than their 6.29 mark after the first 12 games of the season. <br> <br> General manager John Schuerholz is convinced they&#39;ll keep improving, even after trading away Millwood and Moss -- they combined for 63 starts last season -- and seeing Glavine leave. <br> <br> To replace them, the Braves acquired three top starters in Mike Hampton, Russ Ortiz and Paul Byrd. They&#39;d totaled only one win so far, but that&#39;s mostly because Hampton was out until this weekend with a strained right calf and Byrd is sidelined until around July with a bad right elbow. <br> <br> Along with overhauling the starters, Schuerholz brought in an almost entirely new bullpen. Chris Hammond, Mike Remlinger, Kerry Ligtenberg, Tim Spooneybarger and Albie Lopez, all of whom pitched in at least 30 games, are now elsewhere.

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