Kameron Loe’s coast-to-coast traveling show made its third major league stop of 2013 Sunday when the Braves purchased the veteran pitcher’s contract from Triple-A Gwinnett and flew him to Chicago.
“Good to be here,” said Loe, a 6-foot-8 right-hander who struggled with Seattle and the Chicago Cubs this season before being released and signing a minor-league deal with the Braves.
He pitched well at Gwinnett – 4-2 with a 3.19 ERA in 21 games, including four starts – and was brought up to provide a fresh bullpen arm for the Braves, who were down a reliever after David Carpenter worked three innings Saturday.
“Feeling good, throwing the ball well,” Loe said before Sunday’s series finale against the White Sox. “Getting a bunch of ground balls, feeling healthy, ready to go.”
The Braves had gone with a six-man bullpen instead of their usual seven since sending lefty Alex Wood to Gwinnett on July 13, when they brought up Jose Constanza after losing three starting outfielders to injuries in a two-day span.
Knowing that Carpenter would be unavailable Sunday, they summoned Loe, 31, from Triple-A.
With one previously injured outfielder (Justin Upton) back in the lineup since Friday and another (Jason Heyward) expected to return Monday, the Braves optioned utility player Tyler Pastornicky to Gwinnett to open a roster spot.
Reliever Eric O’Flaherty, out for the season after elbow surgery, was moved from the 15-day disabled list to the 60-day to open a spot on the 40-man roster for Loe.
“(Pastornicky) needs to go down and keep playing,” manager Fredi Gonzalez said. “Sitting on the bench is not helping his development. He’ll go down and continue playing all those positions – second base, shortstop, the outfield. Keep moving him around.”
Former Gwinnett teammate Constanza stood on a chair Sunday morning to give the towering Loe a welcoming hug.
Loe is huge, but not a hard thrower, working in the 88-92 mph range with his fastball. He’s a sinker/slider pitcher who also throws a four-seam fastball, cutter and changeup, though he doesn’t break out the changeup often as a reliever.
He has a 33-41 record and 4.46 ERA in 313 games (47 starts) in nine seasons with the Rangers, Brewers, Cubs and Mariners. He had a 10.80 ERA in 11 games (four starts) with the Mariners and Cubs this season, allowing 13 earned runs and nine homers in 15 innings.
“There was obviously a couple of things I needed to do to get straight,” Loe said. “I gave up nine home runs in April – pretty bad. My stuff was flat, and had to make a couple of adjustments, but I’ve been feeling good lately.”
He was particularly effective as a starter for Gwinnett, going 2-1 with a 1.80 ERA in four games.
Maholm returns to ATL: A day after his early exit from a loss against the White Sox, Braves pitcher Paul Maholm returned to Atlanta on Sunday to have his sprained left wrist examined by Dr. Gary Lourie, the Braves' hand specialist.
An X-ray taken at U.S. Cellular Field after he left Saturday’s game was negative, showing no break. But the Braves will have Maholm get an MRI and other tests to make sure there’s no torn ligament or other damage that an X-ray might not reveal.
Gonzalez thinks Maholm can avoid a DL stint and perhaps even make his scheduled start Thursday against the Mets. If he can’t pitch, the Braves would turn to Brandon Beachy or rookie Alex Wood.
Maholm originally injured his wrist while batting July 10. He said it didn’t bother him Saturday until he was warming up before the fourth inning, and he left after giving up hits to the first two batters that inning.
He blew a 4-0 lead when he gave up five runs in the third inning, including a grand slam by Alex Rios. Maholm was charged with seven runs and seven hits in losing his third consecutive start.
After going 6-4 with a 3.38 ERA in his first 10 starts, he’s 3-5 with a 5.53 ERA in his past 10, including 0-3 with a 10.13 ERA in three July starts. He’s 2-7 with a 7.58 ERA in his past 11 road starts, and his 6.03 road ERA is the majors’ worst.
Heyward update: After saying Saturday that he would probably be ready to play Sunday, Heyward decided to take one more day to rest his right hamstring. The big right fielder said the change came after Gonzalez told him the Braves wanted Heyward to play center field until B.J. Upton (adductor muscle strain) returns from the 15-day disabled list.
“He let me know he’d like me to play center until B.J. gets back, which is A-OK with me,” Heyward said. “Just wanted to make sure that my legs were 100 percent before I go out there and attempt to do that. So, having this extra day is great for me… I think I’ll be good to go for tomorrow.”
