The Braves don’t plan to skip fifth starter Julio Teheran or even push back his turn a day.
Teheran will make his season debut Saturday against the Chicago Cubs and Tim Hudson will start Sunday’s series finale, manager Fredi Gonzalez announced Wednesday.
The Braves considered bringing back opening-day starter Hudson to pitch Saturday and pushing back Teheran’s start to Sunday, since Hudson would’ve been on the regular four days’ rest Saturday due to Tuesday’s team day off. Kris Medlen starts Thursday’s series finale against Philadelphia and Minor Minor starts the Cubs series opener.
Gonzalez said going forward, he’ll probably keep the starters in order even after off days, rather than skip a starter or otherwise manipulate the rotation. In past years, the fifth starter was sometimes skipped several times during a season.
“He’s pitched good enough where maybe you don’t want to skip him,” Gonzalez said of Teheran, who was 3-1 with a staff-best 1.06 ERA in six spring starts, with 35 strikeouts and nine walks in 26 innings. In his final three winter-ball starts in the Dominican Republic, he allowed two hits in 16-2/3 scoreless innings.
McCann update: Catcher Brian McCann and infielder Paul Janish, each recovering from shoulder surgery, will fly back to Florida on Thursday to continue playing in extended spring training games. Both are permitted only to hit for now in games, giving way to pinch-runners each at-bat in order to avoid sliding or potential collisions.
They accompanied the team back to Atlanta after spring training because the training camp in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., shuts down for a few days each year between spring training and extended spring training.
McCann will hit and continue to catch bullpens as he ramps up his throwing program. He won’t be cleared for full participation until April 16, the six-month mark in his recovery since surgery. He could begin a minor-league rehab stint at that point or soon after, but a specific timetable for his return from the disabled list has not been set.
Janish had his surgery a week before McCann and will be cleared to play sooner. He’s set to play shortstop at Triple-A Gwinnett when he returns from the DL. The Braves signed backup shortstop/utility infielder Ramiro Pena this winter and won’t have room for both on the major league roster at the same time.
Etc. Freddie Freeman went 3-for-4 with a homer and three RBIs Monday, only the second Brave to have at least three hits and three RBIs on opening day since the team moved to Atlanta in 1966. Fred McGriff had four hits and five RBIs in the 1995 opener against San Francisco… The Braves won Monday's opener, after going nearly three months last season before their first Monday win. They lost their first 12 Monday games before winning one July 30.
