ATLANTA — Tim Hudson stood at his locker this week, trying to think back to the days when Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz were the mainstays of the Atlanta Braves' rotation.

Hudson needed to dig deeper and deeper in history.

"For young guys to come in six, or eight, or I guess it was 10 years ago, that would have been pretty intimidating for a young guy," Hudson said.

It has only been six years since the three last pitched together in Atlanta. Now, Jair Jurrjens, Jorge Campillo and Charlie Morton are rookies, and Jo-Jo Reyes just misses qualifying as a rookie. Each of the four has less than one year's service.

How dramatic is the makeover of the Braves' rotation? Manager Bobby Cox left spring training believing he would have four 20-game winners: Hudson, Smoltz, Glavine and Mike Hampton.

Instead, Hudson is the only current starter with 10 wins in his career.

Smoltz has had season-ending shoulder surgery, Glavine is out with an elbow injury and Hampton, who was hurt warming up before his first start, hasn't pitched in the major leagues since 2005.

The good news for general manager Frank Wren is the new starters are pitching as well as he hoped the veterans would perform.

Atlanta entered the weekend leading the NL with a 3.64 ERA. Jurrjens is the NL rookie leader with nine wins. Campillo (2.54) and Jurrjens (2.94) rank among the rookie ERA leaders.

The Braves have had less success keeping their offense going through a wave of injuries, but the rookie starters are the big reason the team is only three games behind Philadelphia in the NL East.

"Those three, my gosh, they're holding us together," said second baseman Kelly Johnson. "They're the reason why we're four games out instead of 10."

Glavine hopes a tear in the flexor tendon of his left elbow will heal without surgery, allowing a midseason return. But he may face surgery and a difficult decision on whether to attempt a comeback in 2009. He returned to Atlanta after five seasons with the New York Mets, thinking 2008 might be his final season.

"I don't know if it's scary," Glavine said this week. "It's just not fun and it's disappointing. I came back here obviously to try and be a part of something here and help this team win, and a large part of what I brought back here was the consistency of going back out onto the mound every five days, and I haven't been able to provide that.

"I've been very fortunate and very blessed to get as far as I have without injury and do the things I've been able to do. If my elbow blows out at 42 and I'm not able to pitch anymore, I'd be disappointed and sad but I think I'd be able to accept it. I'm not willing to go down that road yet. I think that's another few weeks away."

Smoltz, 41, had his season-ending shoulder surgery on June 10. He said he hopes to begin throwing within four months when he'll start to learn if he can attempt a 2009 comeback. He says he may not know if he can pitch again before next spring.

Hampton, returning from two elbow surgeries, suffered a strained left pectoral before his first start and has made two appearances in his minor league rehabilitation.

"Obviously we've had some tough luck with injuries this year, more so than most teams probably can endure, but we've had some young guys step in and really make an impact so far," Hudson said. "That's great for the future and this organization as far as pitching goes. I'm 32 and I'm by far the oldest guy in the rotation."

Of the new starters, only the 22-year-old Jurrjens has been in the rotation all season. He came to Atlanta in the offseason trade that sent shortstop Edgar Renteria to Detroit and pitched so well in the spring that he began the season as the No. 3 starter.

Campillo, 29, is 3-2 with a 2.54 ERA in 22 games, including eight as a starter. The former Mexican League star had Tommy John surgery following his only start for Seattle in 2005. He signed with Atlanta as a minor league free agent in December and has impressed Cox with his consistency, nasty curve and his control.

Campillo gave up only four hits in seven innings and recorded six strikeouts without a walk in Wednesday's 4-2 win over Milwaukee.

"He's legit," Cox said, adding Campillo "has been excellent every time out."

Morton, 24, was a third-round pick in 2002 who struggled in the minor leagues before breaking out in 2007. Morton caught Cox's eye with his 4-1 record and 2.57 ERA in the Arizona Fall League and was called up from Triple-A Richmond on June 14.

Reyes was 2-2 with a 6.22 ERA in 50 2-3 innings in 2007. He is 3-5 with a 4.48 ERA.

"It is a total makeover from what we had anticipated," Wren said. "We kind of used all our assets we accumulated over the winter to get through it, but they've done a good job. You really can't ask for anything more.

"I think if everything had gone as planned, we'd be happy with where we are pitching-wise. That just tells you how good a job these guys have done."