Brandon Beachy’s elbow is improving after a little more than a week of rest since the Braves shut him down on the cusp of his return from Tommy John surgery. The Braves plan to have him throw in a bullpen session some time before the end of this five-game trip to Milwaukee and Kansas City.
“I don’t know exactly which day, but he’ll throw a bullpen — probably just a light bullpen — sometime this road trip,” Gonzalez said. “That’s why he came with us, to get treatment with our trainer and physical therapist.”
Gonzalez said there’s no plan for “ramping Beachy up” yet, though, and that they’re going to play it smart with a pitcher who endured his first setback at about the 12-month mark in his recovery.
“We’ll play it safe with him,” Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez said there’s no plan mapped out beyond this initial bullpen session, but when the time comes, Beachy will throw at least a couple of sessions before he begins another minor league rehabilitation assignment to build back up. At that rate, Beachy isn’t likely to return until sometime after the All-Star break.
Both doctors’ exams and an MRI have assured the Braves that Beachy’s right elbow is structurally sound, it was just a matter of giving some inflammation time to subside.
“It’s feeling better,” Beachy said Saturday. “Just see what they have for me tomorrow. It’s one of those type of things.”
Wood pleased: Like his teammate Dan Uggla, rookie left-hander Alex Wood was encouraged by his first game wearing new contact lenses Friday night against the Brewers.
“It was awesome,” Wood said. “I could see. I didn’t have to worry about glasses or anything. It was good.”
He pitched again Saturday, giving him his first back-to-back appearances in the majors. He gave up no runs in the eighth inning, striking out the side after giving up a leadoff double to Rickie Weeks.
Like Uggla, Wood has never worn contact lenses, but has been diagnosed with astigmatism and noticed some vision problems affecting him on the field.
Wood was having trouble picking up the catcher’s signs. It wasn’t a big issue for his catchers in Double-A to put down pronounced signs that the other team might be able to pick up. But shortly after his major league call-up he realized he needed to make a change.
Wood tried wearing glasses for two relief outings and his spot start Tuesday against the Mets, but his prescription sport glasses hadn’t arrived yet, and the regular ones he wore kept slipping off and distracting him.
He thinks he may have found the solution. After walking three batters in one inning against the Giants on June 14 and walking three more in three innings of a spot start Tuesday, Wood pitched a perfect eighth inning Friday night. He got two fly outs to center field and struck out Juan Francisco.
“People don’t realize even the smallest thing can mess with your mechanics and head position, all kinds of stuff,” Wood said. “Last night was the first night in a while I’ve felt back to myself. It was really, really good.”
Uggla was equally encouraged by the impact that wearing new contacts had for him Friday night. He went 0-for-2 with two walks, but hit a fly ball nearly 400 feet to left-center field in the fifth inning of a 2-0 loss to the Brewers.
“I felt great,” Uggla said afterward. “The way I saw the ball tonight was night-and-day different than what it’s been. To get adjusted this quick to the contacts is really encouraging.”
Uggla was hitting .192 on the season with 92 strikeouts in 229 at-bats, but he didn’t strike out in four plate appearances Friday and felt different at the plate in general.
“I wasn’t having to think about anything,” said Uggla, who flew out to center in his final at-bat. “I wasn’t having to ‘oh gosh’ be in a rush, or anything like that. It was easier to be on time.”
Etc.: Julio Teheran allowed only two runs in 6 1/3 innings of a 2-0 loss to the Brewers on Friday night. It was the 48th quality start by a Braves pitcher this season (starts of six or more innings, allowing three or fewer earned runs), which is tied for second in the majors behind Philadelphia's 49. Braves starters are only 28-27 overall, though, giving them a .509 winning percentage, which ranks 13th in the major leagues.
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