6/19 News, Links, Discussion: Braves-Yankees, Beachy’s Partial Tear, Livan Released
June 19, 2012 at 12:16 pm by David Lee under Atlanta Braves
Beachy Has Torn Ligament
Following last night’s game, Fredi Gonzalez announced Brandon Beachy has a partially torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow and will likely need Tommy John surgery. Beachy will get a second opinion from Dr. James Andrews on Wednesday, but the writing is on the wall in regards to the damage to his elbow. The worst case scenario appears to be playing out.
If Beachy does indeed need surgery, the Braves have options to fill the void. Kris Medlen is now stretched and can move right into the spot, and the staff would get good value from him in a starting role. But if the Braves are set on Medlen spelling the bullpen with multiple innings in relief, they could put their confidence in Julio Teheran with a call up and rotation spot, and see how he handles a guaranteed role. Teheran pitched well in his one major league start earlier this month and has proven capable as a major league pitcher.
In what could be considered a spot start, Jair Jurrjens will pitch Friday in Boston. How he handles the outing could determine whether he stays with the team in a more stable role, but for now it should be considered a tryout. There remains the possibility Jurrjens could return to the rotation with Beachy absent.
Turning to Tim
The Braves were defeated 6-2 on Monday as the Yankees got to Mike Minor for four runs between the fifth and sixth innings. The Braves lost for the seventh time in eight games, scoring a total of 16 runs over the stretch. They had previously won eight of nine before this skid, and before that had lost eight in a row.
The Braves will turn to Tim Hudson to stop the skid and end the Yankees’ 10-game winning streak. Hudson gave up three runs in six innings while striking out eight against New York the last time they met. Hiroki Kuroda will start for the Yankees in the rematch. Kuroda gave up two runs in six innings while also striking out eight. Game time is 7:05. Nationally: MLB Network. Atlanta: SportSouth. New York: MY9.
Game Notes
Braves lineup: Michael Bourn (CF), Martin Prado (LF), Brian McCann (C), Dan Uggla (2B), Freddie Freeman (1B), Chipper Jones (3B), Jason Heyward (RF), Andrelton Simmons (SS), Eric Hinske (DH), Tim Hudson (R, P)..
Yankees lineup: Derek Jeter (R, SS), Curtis Granderson (L, CF), Alex Rodriguez (R, DH), Robinson Cano (L, 2B), Mark Teixeira (S, 1B), Raul Ibanez (L, LF), Nick Swisher (S, RF), Eric Chavez (L, 3B), Russell Martin (R, C), Hiroki Kuroda (R, P).
Freddie Freeman could return to the lineup today after receiving a cortisone shot in his injured finger Saturday. Freeman will hit early BP and see how his finger responds prior to the game.
More Links
Update (6:10p): David Schoenfield of ESPN SweetSpot blog argues his case for replacing Brandon Beachy’s rotation spot with Kris Medlen.
Update (6:10p): Craig Brown of Fake Teams writes on the return of Jair Jurrjens.
Update (6:05p): Michael Barr of FanGraphs writes that the Braves are in sudden need for starting pitching.
Update (5:45p): The Brewers designated former Brave Brooks Conrad for assignment to make room for Tyler Thornburg, who is making his debut tonight.
AJC quotes following Monday’s loss. Fredi Gonzalez on Mike Minor: “Keep running him out there. We ran him back out there in the sixth just to get him through that stuff. We see it a lot with pitchers. He’s plenty good enough to get through that lineup. We’ve seen it in spurts, now we’ve got to get him to rattle off four or five starts in a row to get him through that stuff.”
Livan Hernandez was officially released Monday, after being designated for assignment last week. Hernandez indicated he wants to continue pitching.
Matt Lentzner writes a great piece for Baseball Prospectus explaining the platoon splits of submarine and sidearm pitchers.
Around the NL East
Update (5:50p): The hits keep coming for the Phillies. Freddy Galvis has been suspended 50 games for testing positive for a PED.
R.A. Dickey pitched a second consecutive one-hitter on Monday and is in the midst of a great run.
David Murphy of the Philadelphia Daily News looks at using outs made as the basis for determining a hitter’s value. Obviously, it’s not the most advanced way of determining value, but at least he’s writing about stats for a newspaper.
ESPN’s Baseball Today podcast includes notes on the NL East and the Braves-Yankees series.
Check us out on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter: @Ben_Duronio, @fjrabon, @kevinorris, @David11Lee.
Check back throughout the day for the latest news and discussion updated on this post.
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Given that they have no money to spend, is there anyy chance the Braves could use better prospects in order to get a team to pick up more of a player’s salary? Should they? Would another team do this? I’m thinking along the lines of a high-level prospect in exchange for Greinke….
Since Teheran was optioned back to AAA on June 10, he can’t be recalled until June 25, correct? Or is there an exception for injuries? I’m just wondering how much to read into the decision to start Jurrjens on Friday. I
There is an exception for injuries
Teheran was pulled early from his last start for “back stiffness”. Otherwise, I suspect he’d be given the start Friday instead of Jurrjens.
Sayonara!
So who’s getting sent down to make room for Jurrjens? Varvaro and Medlen just got called up, can they be demoted that quickly?
Players can sent down at any time, regardless of how soon they were just promoted. There is only a 10 day period between when a player can be sent down and then recalled, with an exception for injuries.
I would guess that Redmond will get demoted. I’m thinking this is just his cup of coffee.
I think the best move is to bring up Tehran, for good. He’s a big part of the future for the Braves, and that future starts now. Put Medlen back in the ‘pen. Rotation: Huddy, Tommy, Minor, Delgado, Tehran. If any of the above sputters, then we have Redmond also (Redmond or Medlen can rotate between rotation and pen if necessary). Losing Beachy is not game over for this season. It hurts, but its not a death sentence. If we can just level out the offensive production and be more consistent, then we’ll be right there for the wild card.
Trying to stay positive I guess..
didn’t even consider Jurrjens in my previous post but he’s still in the mix, but I’m not counting on him for anything down the stretch. I hope I’m wrong though. If he somehow gets it together, then he’s a better option than Redmond. Guess we shall see. Nice to have pitching depth, and now we’re going to test it.
I almost wonder if JJ pitches ok Friday and for a few more starts he could be moved for a bullpen innings eater or bench player near the deadline. The Braves would perhaps have to pick up a piece of his salary and accept a lesser piece in return but they need some depth and even with Beachy down the presence of Medlen and Teheran gives the Braves some options.
Freeman getting healthy would seem to be key to getting more consistent offensive production.
Right not Freddie needs to realize that him at 90% is better than a lot of guys at full strength.
- Chipper Jones
Oof. Good one.
I was just thinking about how Freeman’s year this season is very similar to Heyward’s last year (sophomore slump, nagging injuries). Why isn’t Freeman getting criticized the way Heyward was?
@Compeau
The reason is because Freeman has still been productive when healthy. He’s driven in almost 40 runs already, and considering the time he’s missed, that’s pretty good.
Anybody else see the UNI Watch article on the nicknames on the backs of the 1976 Braves’ uniforms? Very interesting.
http://www.uni-watch.com/2012/06/19/a-closer-look-at-the-nicknames-on-the-1976-atlanta-braves-uniforms/
Hard to be optimistic about tonight with how things going recently but baseball surprises us daily and the Yankees have to lose soon, no matter how well they playing and how poor we are at the moment. At least we have someone with all the bottle in the world pitching.
The AJC has gotten out of control with Mark Bradley and DOB completely forgetting logic and continue to kiss Fredi Gonzalez butt and allow him to go unchecked on terrible decisions. And if you go on their blogs and Criticize Fredi you run the risk of getting banned.
I think I figured out what is wrong with Venters. Since when did he start wearing his pants legs down instead of the socks? Put that crap back. We’ve got games to win here!
Heyward needs to be moved up to 5th, with Freeman dropped down. Freeman’s .296 OBP and 96 wRC+ aren’t acceptable for the 5th spot.
I read the ESPN article about Beachy, and Frediot is quoted as saying “I’m not thinking anything.” At last, the truth comes out!