Morning Chop: Atlanta Braves News 3/30/14
Braves lose Gearrin
The Atlanta Braves are facing the possibility of losing a third pitcher for the season after GM Frank Wren said Cory Gearrin has a serious injury to his right elbow.
Wren said Braves orthopedist Xavier Duralde found “ligament involvement” in Gearrin’s elbow. Wren said the right-hander will see Dr. James Andrews this week for a second opinion and a “definite diagnosis.”
Clearly, the Braves have braced for bad news: “I think he has a significant injury,” Wren said.
It is another blow to a Braves’ staff that already has lost starting pitchers Kris Medlen and Brandon Beachy this spring to their second Tommy John surgeries.
NL Notes: Dodgers, Giants, Braves
- Braves reliever Cory Gearrin may require Tommy John surgery, The Atlanta Journal Constitution’s David O’Brien tweets. GM Frank Wren says there is “ligament involvement” in the injury to the right-hander’s elbow, leading the club to place him on the disabled list. In what appear to be related moves, the Braves added pitchers Gus Schlosser andIan Thomas to their Opening Day roster earlier this evening.
Braves name David Hale their fourth starter
The Braves have finalized their injury-depleted starting rotation and have named David Haletheir fourth starter, Carroll Rogers of the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports. One through five, their rotation will be:
Teheran will start on Opening Day, March 31, in Milwaukee against Brewers starter Yovani Gallardo. Newcomer Ervin Santana is expected to make his Braves debut in the second week of the season.
Medlen, Beachy evaluate mechanics during recovery
ROME, Ga. — Following his second Tommy John surgery, injured Braves starter Kris Medlen Googled himself. Medlen is looking at his delivery both in photos and on film to determine how he can avoid another elbow injury.
“The fact that I was able to come back for two years and pitch for two years after surgery means that the first surgery worked, but I didn’t change anything mechanically from what I was doing before the first time,” Medlen said.
“Once I blew out the second time, I wasn’t Googling surgeons or anything like that. I was Googling myself, looking at pictures and coming in looking at film of what I was doing mechanically, which I probably should have done the first time around.”
For Medlen’s second Tommy John surgery on March 18, Dr. James Andrews took a tendon from the pitcher’s forearm instead of his hamstring. Ten days later, Medlen feels “pretty good” physically, and he has progressed from a cast and a sling to an arm brace.