The Braves plan to bring reliever David Carpenter off the 15-day disabled list Wednesday, the first day he’s eligible and not a day too soon as far as the hard-throwing right-hander is concerned.
“Back to normal, feeling good,” said Carpenter, who was sidelined by a strained right biceps. “The big thing is to be able to go out and execute, not have that in the back of your mind – is it going to flare up or something? I did the necessary steps to have it taken care of, and we’re good to go.”
Carpenter struck out all three batters he faced in the second game of his injury-rehab assignment Monday for Triple-A Gwinnett, mowing down the side in 13 pitches. He had four strikeouts and no walks in two hitless innings for Gwinnett.
The Braves optioned Juan Jaime back to Triple-A after Tuesday’s game to open a spot for Carpenter. Jaime had been recalled from Gwinnett earlier Tuesday to give the Braves another bullpen arm for one game after catcher Evan Gattis was placed on the 15-day DL with a bulging disc.
Carpenter was a workhorse before landing on the DL, posting a 4.23 ERA in 34 appearances through June 16, nearly half of the Braves’ 69 games to that point. But he struggled mightily in the weeks before the injury. a 7.71 ERA and .436 opponents’ average in his last 16 games.
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Carpenter allowed 24 hits and 10 runs in 11 2/3 innings over those 16 games, although he had five strikeouts and one walk in 2 1/3 scoreless innings over his last three appearances before going on the DL. The workload caught up with him.
“It was a matter of just getting ran out there in situations where I needed to throw, and I got a little tired,” he said. “That’s the thing, you always want the ball when they call down there. You never want to say, ‘I need a day (off)’. You want to be a guy that’s relied upon.
“I’m just excited to be back up here and see if I can help out.”