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Tuesday, June 5, 2007
Chipper update: No early DL exit
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Just up from the clubhouse and have a Chipper Jones update for you. The CT scan he got yesterday revealed no fractures, but the Braves hand specialist — Dr. Gary Lourie — told him the bruising he was suffering in the base of his hands was a problem that typically required six weeks to heal.
The injury happened more than three weeks ago — on a collision May 11 in Pittsburgh — so that’s not to say Jones is looking at missing that much time from this point forward. But it’s safe to say Jones won’t be coming off the disabled list when he’s eligible on Friday.
“I bled into the bone where it meets the ligament and they said that could take up to six weeks to heal,” Jones said. “They were talking about putting me in hard casts for a week to 10 days to immobilize the wrists because you aggravate it in everything you do — playing with your kids, taking off your socks.”
Jones is in splints instead and received three more cortisone shots — two in his left hand and one in his right. (He received one shot in his right hand two weeks ago.)
“It happened almost a month ago,” Jones said. “(Being) far enough along, I’m hoping these shots really help speed up the process….It’s going to take a little longer.”
When asked if he’d be out for another couple weeks, Jones said: “I don’t know. I’m going to see how I feel when he lets me out of these splints. And I can take a swing with the bat and start easing my way back into it. Judging how I feel when the shots (take effect), then it’s just a matter of being able to tolerate the knob of the bat when it hits that area.”
Chipper said he talked the doctor into splints so he could continue to get treatment, move and flex those muscles some, and of course so he’ll have a better quality of life. This way he can drive himself to the ballpark, for one.
As for the game, or should we say gameS….It’s hooky time, good bloggers, and a doubleheader to boot. And surely the Braves won’t give the blog nation twice as much to moan about? John Smoltz is going today in Game 2, and he doesn’t go long without something positive happening. So I predict a split, at worst.
Yeah, I know, go out on a giant limb there. But it will be interesting to see how Smoltz does. Any time there’s anything not feeling right with a shoulder or elbow, it should cause some alarm, but Smoltz said his shoulder problem was a tweak (during a warm-up pitch in Milwaukee) and he was being smart this time, taking himself out of the game.
So we’ll see how he does.
Lineup watch: Kelly Johnson is out of the lineup for Game 1 after going 0-for-5 last night, his second 0-for-5 of the year. He struck out three times and bounced into a double play. Willie Harris is batting leadoff and Pete Orr is playing second.
A little number I came across last night that feels pertinent to this series: take out the Braves’ 6-3 record against the New York Mets, and the Braves are just 11-13 against the rest of NL East, including 2-4 against the Marlins heading into today’s doubleheader.
To me that says the Braves are bearing down for games against the Mets, and having their troubles against everybody else. Their dropping three out of four last month in Washington was a pretty good example. Getting swept at home by the Phillies another.
Yunel Escobar’s dad is supposed to be here today. Coming up from Miami. In a spring training game in March, Mariano Escobar saw his son play in a Braves uniform for the first time. It’d been only six weeks or so since he got a visa to join his son in the U.S. Seeing Yunel brought him to tears that day. I can only imagine what it will feel like for him to see Escobar play in a major league stadium. Chills, surely.
The Braves public relations staff threw out an interesting note. On Saturday in Chicago, the Braves had six countries represented in their lineup: Canada (Scott Thorman), Colombia (Edgar Renteria), Cuba (Escobar), Curacao (Andruw Jones), Venezuela (Martin Prado) and the U.S. And the cool thing is you don’t even really think about it. We have a baseball melting pot here, and I think that’s neat. Say whatever you want to say, Gary Sheffield.
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