CHICAGO — The Braves haven't finalized their starting-rotation order coming out of the four-day All-Star break that begins Monday, but manager Fredi Gonzalez was sure it would start with Ervin Santana on Friday at Turner Field in the first game back against the Phillies.
Braves ace Julio Teheran is likely to pitch in the second or third game against the Phillies, depending upon whether he and the Braves decide he should get one or two extra days of rest.
“I’ve just got to wait a day or two to see who needs the extra day (of rest), who doesn’t,” said Gonzalez, who will wait to see how Teheran feels Monday after pitching Sunday’s final game before the break. “I think I can tell you for sure that Santana is going to go Friday. And then we’ll see how it works after that.
“With Julio pitching today, I like to give him a little extra time. If he pitched Friday he’d be on his regular rotation day. So we want to give him an extra day, or two.”
Gonzalez plans to split up left-handers Alex Wood and Mike Minor instead of having them pitch consecutively as they did in recent weeks, which means they’ll either pitch the second and fourth games after the break, or the third and fifth games.
That would leave veteran Aaron Harang in either the fourth or fifth spot coming out of the break.
