Philadelphia — Mike Hampton knew better than to get overly excited Friday afternoon.

While preparing to make his first major-league start in almost three years today against the Phillies, 24 hours was plenty of time for something else bad to happen.

Hampton was simply warming up in the Braves bullpen at Turner Field on April 3, when he strained a pectoral muscle, and that was the first domino to fall in a 3 1/2-month odyssey to get back to this point.

"I've been close before and hadn't gotten there," Hampton said. "Once I throw the first pitch, I'm sure I'll be able to relax a little bit. Just do the things necessary to get to that point and go from there."

Excited?

"Still not there yet," he said, cautiously.

Close enough to taste it?

"No," Hampton said, with a wry smile. "Just water right now."

He was sipping on a bottle of Dasani.

Taking things day-to-day to Hampton meant he was down to one more day. But after waiting 35 months to get back on the mound, the 35-year-old wasn't taking the last hours — and minutes — for granted.

Hampton's previous start came Aug. 19, 2005. He gave up 11 hits and seven runs in 31/3 innings to the Padres before leaving with tightness in his elbow.

Six weeks later he was undergoing "Tommy John" elbow reconstruction surgery. Trying to come back from that, he tore a flexor tendon in his elbow and had to have season-ending surgery in 2007 as well.

Since then, he has been held back by a host of nagging muscle injuries — a hamstring in winter ball, a groin in spring training, the pectoral muscle in the bullpen and again on a minor-league rehabilitation assignment. And most recently it was a groin strain another supposed final start of a rehabilitation assignment.

The Braves, for their part, probably didn't want to chance him getting hurt again in another bullpen session.

Hampton was originally scheduled to throw a second bullpen Friday night. But the Braves were convinced by Tuesday's session and decided to put him in there for this critical weekend series against the Phillies.

"His last bullpen, it couldn't get any better than that," manager Bobby Cox said.

Hampton will take the place of left-hander Jo-Jo Reyes, who has lost his past five starts. Cox said Reyes will move start on Monday against the Cardinals.

Tim Hudson's elbow is improving and he is aiming to make his scheduled start Tuesday. Cox didn't want to comment on a potential roster move, but it would appear Charlie Morton is the odd man out of the rotation, at least for now. His next turn would have been Monday.

If another something fluky happens today, Reyes is ready to go. Otherwise, it's going to be Hampton's day.

"I'm just going to go out and give it everything I've got," Hampton said. "Hopefully [I'll] get into a rhythm early, smooth and free and easy and leave with a lead somehow."

Just getting in there will be the bigger victory.