(Updated: 11:45 a.m.)
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- There is a chance that the Braves' opening day starter will be bald.
I'm writing a column later today on the Braves' starting rotation and addressing the question about whether an "ace" as the No. 1 starter is needed. Medlen, Julio Teheran and Mike Minor (in that order) are the most likely candidates to start opening day in Milwaukee on March 31.
UPDATE: Here's a link to the print column on the rotation.
If it's Medlen, you'll see a closely shaven scalp under his hat. The Braves' pitcher has a full head of hair but he is going to have it shaven on Wednesday to help raise awareness and funding for cancer research. He will have his head shaved by a local child who is battling cancer.
The event is being staged by a partnership between the "Rally Foundation," the Atlanta-based charity that former Braves' catcher Brian McCann has long been affiliated, and the "Vs. Cancer Foundation." Medlen took over as local spokesman for the Rally Foundation after McCann signed with the New York Yankees as a free agent.
A shaved head or a strange haircut hardly will be a new experience for the often amusing Medlen.
"I shaved my head a bunch of times," he said. "I was an idiot before. I always had decent hair so I would grow mohawks, to-the-skin mohawks. Yeah. I was stupid. Not a big deal."
Here's a link to how Medlen looked with a faux mohawk.
The last time he was bald?
"Actually my wife and I were just talking about this the other day. She told me that right after we started dating four or five years ago, I shaved it and she hated it."
Medlen will have his head shaven Wednesday morning before the Braves' workout, probably on the field in front of the team's dugout.
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