DEL.ICIO.USMLB: ATLANTA BRAVES
McCann to give new glasses test run in Gwinnett
Braves catcher scheduled to only play Thursday
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Tuesday, May 05, 2009
Brian McCann grew up in Gwinnett County and still lives there. Now, the Braves’ All-Star catcher is going to play a game there that could be important to his future.
McCann will launch what he and the Braves hope is the glasses-wearing solution to his recent eye problem, when he catches for Class AAA Gwinnett on Thursday against Syracuse at the new ballpark in Lawrenceville.
Curtis Compton/ccompton@ajc.com
Brian McCann tests his vision with new glasses as he takes the field to practice last week. He will sport new glasses when he catches for Class AAA Gwinnett on Thursday.
He had been scheduled to catch Wednesday and Thursday at Gwinnett, but McCann’s prescription sports glasses arrived Tuesday without a corrective lens on one right side.
McCann will wait until the lens arrives Thursday before he plays, but he plans to go to Gwinnett and taking batting practice and work out before Wednesday’s game wearing his regular glasses.
The major league Braves are in Miami to start an eight-game road trip Wednesday. McCann plans to come off the 15-day disabled list Friday and rejoin the team at Philadelphia when the Braves open a three-game series that night.
Asked if he thought there was a chance he wouldn’t be ready to rejoin the team Friday, the first day he’s eligible to be activated, McCann replied, “No. I think I’ll be there.”
He has been on the DL dealing with dryness and blurred vision in his left eye, which might be an aftereffect of the Lasik surgery he had on both eyes following the 2007 season.
McCann will switch to a hockey goalie-type facemask that will allow him to wear glasses while he catches. He practiced making throws to the bases while wearing the mask over his regular glasses Tuesday afternoon at Turner Field and said he didn’t have any problems.
He has been taking batting practice while wearing glasses since Friday.
If McCann isn’t able to play at his accustomed level while wearing glasses, another round of laser-eye surgery might be a last-resort option. Some specialists, however, recommend against Lasik surgery twice in such a short span because of possible nerve damage.
The Braves have struggled to score runs in the absence of the 2008 Silver Slugger award winner, who batted in the cleanup (fourth) spot.
Chipper tutors Schafer
Strikeout-plagued rookie Jordan Schafer spent nearly two hours Tuesday working with third baseman Chipper Jones, who had noticed several flaws in Schafer’s swing in recent weeks.
Schafer was 5-for-25 with 14 strikeouts in his past eight games before Tuesday, including three consecutive three-strikeout games to raise his National League-leading total to 33 strikeouts.
Schafer has been playing with a sore left wrist since hearing a pop on a swing in an April 10 game against Washington. He said the wrist has improved some in the past week, since he stopped taking extra batting practice. He also insisted it wasn’t the reason for his recent struggles.
Jones and hitting coach Terry Pendleton said that compensating for hand or wrist injuries can cause a player to get in bad habits with his swing. Both of them believed that’s probably happened with Schafer, at least to some degree.
Anderson in; B. Jones out
Left fielder Garret Anderson was activated from the DL as expected Tuesday, and outfielder Brandon Jones was optioned to Gwinnett to make room.
Anderson started and batted fourth Tuesday night against the Mets, after missing 15 days with a strained quadriceps and opting not to do an injury-rehab assignment.
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