Braves Head to Phoenix and D-Backs Make Roster Move
By Fred Owens
Just some quick notes this morning about the Braves and their next opponent the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Julio Teheran freshly recalled from Gwinnett makes his second big league start tonight against the D-Backs Joe Saunders. Teheran allowed three earned runs in his 4 2/3 inning debut against the Phillies on May 7 and wasn’t awed by the occasion so the Phoenix start should not cause any nerves. The thinner air in Arizona makes the ball fly a bit but his stuff is good enough against the 17-23 D-Backs if the Braves bats make the trip and aren’t jet lagged.
Joe Saunders is the most recognizable name on the D-Backs rotation but his season hasn’t been a big success so far. He’s still looking for his first victory of the season and allowed four runs on six hits last Friday against the Dodgers. The lefty beat the Braves in June 2008, shutting them out over 7 1/3 innings when he was an Angel but his ERA this year is 5.48 and he carries a WHIP of 1.65 with 52 hits and 24 walks in his 46 innings; he’s struck out 25.
No word on the effects of playing two days in a row on Chipper Jones’ right knee as of yet and no other injury news yet this morning. We probably won’t know anything until the workouts this afternoon.
Word on the wire this morning is that the D-Backs designated last year’s almost perfect game pitcher Armando Galaraga for assignment and activated Willie Bloomquist for the Braves series. Galaraga was 3-4 with a 5.91 ERA and led the majors in homers allowed with 13; that’s 2.7HR / 9 innings. He got a little upset with reporters on Monday and GM Kevin Towers decided to release him even though they will have to eat his $2.3 million salary. On Tuesday Towers told reporters:
"“It was kind of a breaking point for us. We felt it was time to make a change there.”"
Galaraga would not have faced the Braves this series but it’s nice to see a GM take responsibility for a bad trade. Just sayin. . .