After going two weeks without a veteran setup man in front of Craig Kimbrel, the Braves got right-hander Jordan Walden back in the fold Wednesday, activating him from the 15-day disabled list.
The Braves optioned Cory Rasmus back to Triple-A Gwinnett. The move keeps the Braves’ bullpen at six relievers and puts off a tough decision regarding a position player. Players such as Evan Gattis and Jordan Schafer might have seemed logical candidates to send down before the season started, but they aren’t anymore. And the Braves would prefer to keep both Reed Johnson and Gerald Laird, too.
“We’ll keep working through it,” Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. “Ten, 12 years ago, it’s not that big a deal. And really the only times you feel uncomfortable is when it’s late in the game or extra-inning games and you’ve got one guy down there, two guys down there. Other than that, it’s very, very manageable to have a six-man bullpen.”
Walden had been out since May 17 with shoulder inflammation, but a week of rest followed by a strength-and-exercise program has served him well. Walden pitched a scoreless inning in a minor league rehab outing Monday night for Gwinnett in Syracuse.
Walden said he was throwing his fastball with as much or more velocity than he has all season — sitting at 96 mph and touching 97.
“My arm feels good, and my slider was very good,” Walden said. “It was probably the best I’ve seen it in a couple years. That was really encouraging.”
The Braves are without their top two left-handed setup men, Eric O’Flaherty and Jonny Venters, both of whom underwent season-ending Tommy John surgery within the past two weeks. But Gonzalez said given Walden’s success against left-handed hitters, he can use him in similar situations.
For his career, left-handers have hit .207 against Walden compared with .265 for right-handers, and for this season left-handers are hitting .212 off him compared with .455 by right-handers.
Rasmus got the experience of his first two major league outings and a chance to face his brother Colby Rasmus, who doubled off him Monday night in Toronto. Rasmus gave up five runs, including three home runs, in 3 2/3 innings.
“I feel like I pitched a little too cautious instead of just relying on my stuff and attacking the guys,” Rasmus said. “That put me in hitter’s counts and they were able to look for things, and when they got them they hit them.”
Beachy target: Brandon Beachy threw five scoreless innings in his second minor league rehabilitation start Wednesday in Single-A Rome. He gave up three hits, walked one and struck out three, while throwing 68 pitches. His command continues to improve after he had three walks and a wild pitch in four innings his first time out Friday for Triple-A Gwinnett.
Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said Beachy is scheduled to make three more rehab starts before making his return from elbow-reconstruction surgery. The Braves are targeting the June 18 doubleheader against the Mets for his return, if everything continues to go well.
“If there are no setbacks or anything, it would be a perfect fit,” Gonzalez said. “But we know about perfect fits, and that’s why I do all my stuff in pencil.”
O'Flaherty update: O'Flaherty joined Venters on Wednesday as another splinted setup man, walking around the Braves clubhouse with a wrap on his surgically repaired left elbow. O'Flaherty will miss 12 months recovering from Tommy John surgery, but said he learned it could have been worse.
O’Flaherty had been experiencing related pain in the flexor tendon of his elbow. If that had blown, too, as an MRI revealed his ulnar collateral ligament had, he would be looking at an even longer recovery.
“Worst-case scenario for me would be to have the operation that (Red Sox reliever Joel) Hanrahan had to have, where his flexor tendon actually blew out,” O’Flaherty said. “So that’s an 18-month recovery.”
O’Flaherty said it was just more confirmation that he needed Tommy John surgery, something he had probably been doing well to avoid since his elbow pain started in June. Dr. James Andrews performed the surgery May 21 in Gulf Breeze, Fla., after a dye-contrast MRI confirmed both the ulnar collateral tear and deteriorating tissue in his flexor tendon.
“He basically said this is just a result of the ligament failing, and the ligament has been failing for a while,” O’Flaherty said. “So it was just going to cause one problem after another.”
