With Braves starting pitcher Mike Minor making no progress in his rehabilitation from shoulder issues, the team placed him on the 60-day list on Saturday to make room on its 40-man roster.
Minor began the season on the 15-day disabled list after he was shut down for two weeks during spring training with inflammation in his left (throwing) shoulder. Minor suffered a setback when he felt pain when he began throwing from the mound about three weeks ago, and Braves vice president John Hart said Minor hasn’t started throwing again.
“Right now there are still some issues there,” Hart said. “This (move) provides us some more flexibility. We don’t see him coming back anytime soon. Hopefully the next week or 10 days we will have our arms a little bit more around what needs to be done. We felt this was the right move for the organization (and) the right thing for Mike because he’s not close to being out there ready to go.”
Infielder Pedro Ciriaco took Minor’s spot on the 40-man roster and was promoted from Triple-A Gwinnett.
Minor returned from Braves camp in Florida on April 11 to be examined by doctors in Atlanta. He returned to Florida to continue with a scaled-back rehabilitation program, with Hart saying at the time that surgery wasn’t an option but could be if Minor’s shoulder doesn’t show progress.
So far, that hasn’t happened.
“There has not been any measurable improvement that you want to see,” Hart said. “We’ve taken the MRIs. We are trying to stay as patient as we can and Mike is doing everything he can. At this point, things haven’t progressed. “
Minor also was shut down with shoulder issues during 2014 spring training and didn’t make his first start until May 2. He went on to post career-worst numbers for a full season in ERA (4.77) and walks and hits per inning pitched (1.44).
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