Atlanta Braves Jordan Schafer & B.J. Upton To Return Soon?

The 2013 season for the Atlanta Braves has been filled with questions and speculations.  It seems like nothing has come easy in the decision making for the front office and now with the return of B.J. Upton and Jordan Schafer in hindsight, more questions of what to do and what lineup to fill out each night will be asked.

B.J. Upton 

Upton could be just a few days from returning from a strained adductor muscle, after he was able to work out Friday on the field.  B.J. could be back to patrol our outfield as early as next week after testing his strained right adductor muscle.

Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

“I did some sprints today, like really ran, and then agility, like cutting to see how it felt, and it felt pretty good,” Upton said. “Overall, it’s night and day from what it was a couple weeks ago, even a couple days ago. It’s coming along well, and we’ll just see.”

On Sunday, Upton is eligible to be activated from the DL but won’t be.  Good news (to some) is that he plans to start a rehab assignment early next week and could rejoin the team at the end of the current homestand.

Jordan Schafer

Schafer is still a few weeks away from being able to return from an intraosseous stress fracture in his ankle.  He did though feel comfortable enough to take the field before Friday night’s game and tested out his leg injury.

He has been taking swings off a tee and doing some underwater exercises over the past two days to try out his ankle and see if his strength is back.  He is doing the underwater exercises to see if his ankle is strong enough to take above ground and start running on the field.

“The water takes away a lot of your body weight, that’s why we starter there,” Schafer said.  “So if I can actually job by myself with my weight on the field today, that’ll be a big step.”

Manager Fredi Gonzalez spoke on Schafer “Other than his legs feeling a little jelly, he said he felt good”

This is a good sign that Schafer is running and taking swings.  He will probably run on the field sometime early next week or by next weekend and than see where he is at from there.  If all is well, a rehab  assignment could be within the next two weeks.