Aaron Harang, a veteran pitcher the Braves signed off the figurative scrap heap one week before opening day, now is scheduled to start the April 8 home opener against the Mets. It’s been that kind of spring for the injury-plagued Braves.
They plan to start Julio Teheran, Alex Wood and Harang in that order in the opening series that begins Monday at Milwaukee, with either David Hale or Gus Schlosser — the fourth spot in the rotation hasn’t been decided between those two rookies — starting the April 4 series opener at Washington.
“The candidates are here,” Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said of the No. 4 spot. “We’ve got to let that play out, do what best suits our club. … I think one or the other will end up in the bullpen.”
Because of two off-days in the eight days of the season, the Braves can and will go with four starters on regular rest until they add recently signed former All-Star Ervin Santana to the rotation in the second week.
Santana, who signed March 12, made his second spring start Tuesday in a 12-3 win against the Tigers and gave up four hits and two runs in three innings, with no walks and one strikeouts.
“Everything was good,” he said. “I tried to keep the ball down for the most part, elevate when I wanted to. I gave up a couple of hits, a couple of runs scored, but it’s OK. The thing is, I just feel good.”
He’s scheduled to make three more starts in minor league games, then join the rotation April 12.
“I thought he did great,” Gonzalez said. “What did he give up, six hits? I think all but one or two were on the ground.”
The Braves signed Harang to a one-year contract Monday, hours after he was released by the Indians. He had a 2.00 ERA in four major league spring-training games (two starts) and pitched in two minor league games, going six innings Friday.
He was 5-12 with a 5.40 ERA in 26 starts last season for Seattle and the Mets, after going 10-10 with a 3.61 ERA in 179 2/3 innings for the Dodgers in 2012. The 6-foot-7 right-hander has a 110-116 record and 4.28 ERA in 325 games (319 starts) over 12 seasons.
Harang will make his Braves debut Thursday with a start against the Tigers. Wood, originally scheduled to start that game, will instead pitch in a minor league game.
Gearrin elbow injury: Reliever Cory Gearrin became the latest Braves pitcher to leave a game with a sore elbow Tuesday, and the sidearm reliever can only hope it's no worse than the initial diagnosis of a sprain.
He left with two out and a 2-0 count on Torii Hunter in the fifth inning. Gearrin had faced two batters, allowing a leadoff single and inducing a double-play grounder before throwing two errant pitches to Hunter.
“It was just kind of tender a little bit, didn’t really feel right,” Gearrin said. “The last two I threw I definitely knew something felt a little tender or whatever.”
He had his elbow in a compression wrap after the game and will be examined Wednesday.
“We’ll see tomorrow, see how it goes with the doctor,” Gonzalez said.
Gearrin, 27, had a 3.77 ERA in 37 appearances last season, with 23 strikeouts and 16 walks in 31 innings. He was optioned to Triple-A on July 5 and didn’t pitch again because of a strained shoulder.
He has a 6.35 ERA in a team-high 12 appearances this spring, with 13 hits, two walks and 11 strikeouts in 12 1/3 innings. He allowed one hit and one run with four strikeouts in four innings over his past four appearances before Tuesday.
The Braves lost starting pitchers Kris Medlen and Brandon Beachy to torn elbow ligaments on consecutive days March 9-10. Medlen’s injury initially was diagnosed as a forearm strain and Beachy’s as biceps tightness. Subsequent MRIs revealed torn ulnar collateral ligaments and both had season-ending Tommy John surgery, each for the second time.
Wednesday is the one-year anniversary of reliever Jonny Venters’ torn UCL in a spring game against the Tigers in Lakeland. Venters had the second Tommy John surgery of his career and hopes to be back in June.
Gearrin, who is out of minor-league options, was penciled in for one of the eight bullpen spots for the season-opening 12-man pitching staff (that configuration will change to seven relievers and five starters in the second week).
Even in a best-case scenario, Gearrin now seems unlikely to be ready to open the season. The Braves had two rookie left-handers, Ian Thomas and Atahualpo Severino, competing for one spot, and Thomas had moved ahead and was expected to fill that role. If Gearrin’s out, they could keep Severino, or bring back lefty Ryan Buchter, who was optioned Monday. Unlike Thomas and Severino, he’s already on the 40-man roster.
The Braves could bring back one of the other relievers sent down earlier, although none pitched particularly well in big-league camp. The could also look to add a reliever waived or released by another team this week.
