LAKELAND — While the Braves were warming up for their Grapefruit League game at Clearwater against the Phillies, four Braves pitchers — starters Gavin Floyd and Mike Minor, relievers Jonny Venters and Luis Vasquez — were back at Lake Buena Vista taking the next steps toward returning from injuries.
Floyd and Venters are returning from Tommy John surgeries; Minor is recovering from a sore shoulder, and Vasquez from a strained lat muscle in his right side. Pitching coach Roger McDowell stayed behind to watch all four and said all looked good and got through the work without any issues.
“Everything was great,” McDowell said. “See how they are tomorrow, and go from there.”
Floyd and Vasquez each threw five minutes of batting practice against Braves hitters, the first time Floyd faced hitters since May surgery and the first for Vasquez since he was injured in a Dominican Winter League playoff game about six weeks ago.
Floyd is hopeful of joining the rotation in May, while Vasquez could pitch in a spring-training game as soon as this week. The Braves are counting on Floyd to fill a rotation spot for most of the season, and are eager to see Vasquez in action after hearing all the glowing reports on the sidearmer from scouts and players who saw the sidearmer excel during the Dominican Republic winter league.
Venters and Minor each threw off the bullpen mound, Venters for the first time since May surgery and Minor for the first time since October. The Braves hope to have Venters in their bullpen by May, or June at the latest.
Minor, one of the Braves’ top three starters, had some shoulder soreness after missing all of January recovering from urinary tract surgery and then ramping up his throwing program too quickly at the beginning of camp. He and manager Fredi Gonzalez have said they think Minor will be able to avoid a stint on the disabled list, since the Braves won’t need a fifth starter until late in the second week of the season and Minor’s debut could be pushed back to then.
Lipka again: After Braves outfield prospect Matt Lipka showed his speed scoring from first base on a two-RBI single and two errors Saturday against the Nationals, he had a similar dash around the bases Wednesday to score the tying run in the ninth inning. Only this time, he did it without hitting the ball out of the infield or even getting a hit.
Jose Constanza led off the inning with a double and was at third base with one out when Lipka grounded into a 4-2-5-1 fielder’s choice, with Constanza caught in a rundown. But while the Phillies were tossing it back and forth on the rundown, Lipka raced around first and second bases and was headed for a close play at third when the Phillies fired the ball into the outfield, and Lipka scored on the error.
“He scored a run basically on a ball in the infield,” Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. “And then the other day he had the same type of play. He adds a dimension of speed, and in one of the early games he threw somebody out at the plate from center field. I’ve been impressed by him.
“You had two guys that can run – you had Constanza at third base and Lipka at the plate. You put the ball in play and make them make a play, and they didn’t, and we ended up tying the game.”
Etc. Gonzalez noted the work of pitching prospect Shae Simmons, who struck out two in a perfect inning after having two rough outings and taking losses in each of his first two appearances…. In four plate appearances, B.J. Upton had two hits and struck out twice looking. He was credited with a first-inning single when shortstop Jimmy Rollins botched a grounder, and Upton doubled in his last at-bat…. Non-roster catcher Steven Lerud went 3-for-3, and backup catcher/right fielder Ryan Doumit had a single and flied out to the center-field wall into the wind.
