SARASOTA, Fla. – Braves left-hander Andrew McKirahan left with tightness in his forearm after throwing just four pitches in Wednesday’s spring-training road game against the Orioles.
McKirahan had a 2-2 count against Hyun Soo Kim to start the fifth inning when he signaled to the dugout that something was wrong. After a brief meeting on the mound, he left the game.
“I don’t know what we’re calling it, we’re going to evaluate it when we get back,” Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. “When he came off the mound his forearm was tight. That’s the only thing I (was told) from my end.”
McKirahan, as a former Rule 5 pick, has to stay on the Braves’ roster for the first couple of months of the season or be offered to his original team, the Cubs, for $25,000, half of the claiming price the Marlins paid when they took him in the December 2014 Rule 5 draft.
The Braves claimed him off waivers from the Marlins late in 2015 spring training, and McKirahan was slapped with an 80-game suspension for performance-enhancing drugs, from a failed test while he was with the Marlins. He missed half of the season for the Braves, and that’s why he still must be carried on the 25-man roster for a period under the Rule 5 regulations.
He wasn’t effective in 2015 most of the time when he was active, posting a 5.93 ERA in 27 appearances. The Braves have since added several other lefty relief options, including experienced major leaguers Ian Kroll and Alex Torres, as well as their own selection from the December 2015 Rule 5 draft, Evan Rutckyj.
Rutckyj, 24, pitched a perfect eighth inning in his debut Wednesday, with a groundout and a strikeout.
“I was impressed with Rutckyj today, with his breaking ball,” Gonzalez said. “There’s a couple of good signs. Carp came back and pitched well.”
The Braves must keep Rutckyj on their 25-man roster all season or offer him back to the Yankees for $25,000. He has no experience above Double-A, but posted a 2.63 ERA and 82 strikeouts in 61 2/3 innings last season for Yankees high Single-A and Double-A affiliates.
