Braves notes: Moylan has torn rotator cuff

By David O'Brien

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

WASHINGTON — The enchanting story of Braves pitcher Peter Moylan took a troublesome turn Thursday when the Aussie reliever was diagnosed with a torn rotator cuff and labrum in his pitching shoulder.

Moylan will Dr. James Andrews on Monday for a second opinion before a decision is made about surgery, which would probably keep him out for all or most of the 2012 season.

“I’m just going to wait and see what Andrews says,” said Moylan, 32, who missed more than four months for a bulging disc in his lower back that required surgery.

He returned Sept. 3 and made six relief appearances, last Tuesday at Florida when he induced an inning-ending groundout with a runner on second in a 6-5 Braves win.

“He pitched to one hitter, got [Matt] Dominguez to end the inning and felt great,” Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. “And the next day he went out there to play catch with [pitching coach] Roger [McDowell] and ... he felt something clicking.”

Also during a busy day for Braves injury news:

• Tommy Hanson had soreness in the scapula of his problematic pitching shoulder and was pulled after two innings of a planned three-inning start in an Instructional League game.
• Kris Medlen pitched an inning in his second Instructional League appearance and will be activated and join the Braves’ bullpen this weekend. Medlen has been out all season after ligament-transplant elbow surgery.
• George Sherrill threw an inning Thursday in the instructional league and is scheduled to throw again Saturday, then likely will be activated.
• Shortstop Alex Gonzalez missed a second start with a strained calf, after Fredi Gonzalez decided against bringing him back on a rain-soaked field. He should be back in the lineup Saturday.

Moylan flew back to Atlanta on Wednesday and Thursday he had an MRI and was examined by Braves orthopedist Xavier Duralde.

Braves general manager Frank Wren said Moylan had been pitching with a small tear in his rotator cuff for some time.

“Comparing it to the MRI he had last year in January, it just showed a little bit of worsening of the existing tear,” Wren said.

Asked if there was any chance Moylan could avoid surgery, Wren said, “Yeah, there’s a chance. We still have to get more information, get a second opinion.”

Even if it’s not a full-thickness rotator-cuff tear, Moylan could require surgery.

He had ligament-transplant elbow surgery early in the 2008 season.

Hanson pulled after two

Hanson had soreness in the scapula of his troublesome pitching shoulder and was pulled after throwing 41 pitches in an instructional league game Friday in Melbourne, Fla.

“For precautionary reasons we shut him down [for the day],” Gonzalez said. “The plan for him is to go a couple of days, see how that develops, then maybe throw a bullpen — his normal side session — and then do it again, make another start.”

Hanson is recovering from a small tear in his rotator cuff, an injury the Braves say they’ve been assured should not require surgery. He last pitched in a game Aug. 6, and the team had hoped he could make a regular-season start to show he’s ready for the postseason.

Gonzalez said Hanson would try pitch his normal side session Sunday before the Braves determine whether he can start Wednesday — in the instructional league or the regular-season finale vs. Philadelphia.

Either way, Hanson won’t be ready to pitch the five innings that Gonzalez said he would need to pitch before he would consider putting him in the rotation for a first-round playoff series if the Braves win the wild card.