Hampton Out Until at Least Mid-May

We were all hoping it wouldn't happen, but it did. Mike Hampton strained his oblique today, while taking a swing in batting practice and in the best case scenario, he won't be back until mid-May. The team has said that the veteran lefty will need at least a month of rest, before building up his arm strength, and Hampton thinks that will take another month. At least it wasn't the elbow that got injured, and he'll actually have quite a bit more time to rest his surgically repaired elbow, which could help. Both Chipper Jones and Tim Hudson felt the effects of a strained oblique during 2006.

If you have been reading recently, I predicted pretty average stats for Hampton, so this probably shouldn't hurt too much. Without looking outside the organization to fill the whole, there are 5 options.

1. Lance Cormier- He was already in the running for the fifth spot, so this could give him a shot. He did well in a couple starts at the end of last season and has a 3.60 ERA with 5 Ks in 5 IP this spring.

2. Oscar Villareal- It would surprise me to see this considering how well Villareal did as our long man last year. He did make a couple of emergency starts last season and pitched well, but his place still seems to be the long man, who can fill in for one start here and there.

3. Anthony Lerew- I don't know if his endurance is still there after relieving last year, but he has been mentioned in the competition for the fifth spot. He re-worked his mechanics and brings a mid-90s fastball but I don't think his secondary stuff warrants a spot in the rotation until he proves otherwise.

4. Macay McBride- Bobby recently toyed around with the idea of moving the lefty back to the rotation, but there are two factors that make me skeptical. The first being he just gets smacked around by righties, and the second is how rare it is to have a lefty capable of holding left-handers to a BAA below .180, but he is one of two in our pen. That gives Bobby an incredible way to mix and match in the end of games.

5, Matt Harrison- People said he would only get a shot if there was an injury and here we are. He only has around 80 innings outside of A-Ball, but his command is what would carry him. He did get smacked around in his first Grapefruit League action, but Bobby seems to like what he has seen so far from the 21-year old. He is definitely still an underdog.

I personally think that the amount of time he will be out doesn't warrant a trade with the options we have. Mark Bowman mentioned that it could be an option though. The Dodgers, Tigers, and Phillies all have starters to trade and Mark Redman is a free agent option that could probably be picked up on a minor league contract. He was an all-star last season, but I doubt he will provide the results of some of our other options.