On the cusp of making his return from Tommy John surgery, the Braves have scratched Brandon Beachy from his highly-anticipated start Tuesday against the Mets because of elbow tenderness.
Braves general manager Frank Wren said the Braves consider this to be a minor setback, the first Beachy has experienced of any kind in his 12-month recovery from elbow surgery. They’ll rest him now and have given no immediate timetable for his return.
“We had hoped he could make this start on the doubleheader, but it wasn’t a make-or-break start obviously,” Wren said. “The most important thing is to get him healthy long term and we feel like pushing him back a little bit, giving him a little more time is the prudent thing to do.”
Beachy struggled with his command in three innings for Triple-A Gwinnett Thursday night in Rochester, walking four and allowing three runs (two earned) while throwing only 38 strikes in 69 pitches. He was examined by Braves team doctors on Friday evening at Turner Field.
Wren said doctors characterized the problem as inflammation and said there were no immediate plans for Beachy to undergo an MRI.
“We’re going to continue to watch it,” Wren said. “He was as little tender after the last start and this time he was a little more tender. It’s just the smart thing to do just to slow it down and give him time because he’s had a really unremarkable rehab until this point. So we feel like everything is going to be fine. We’ve just got to slow down.”
For all the talk of who would exit the Braves rotation when Beachy returns, the immediate question now is who will start in Beachy’s place Tuesday against the Mets. Paul Maholm will start one game of the doubleheader. Wren said the Braves won’t divulge who starts the other until after Sunday’s finale against the Giants.
Beachy is a week shy of the year anniversary of his June 21, 2012 surgery.
“He’s disappointed,” Wren said, who made the announcement in the sixth inning of Friday’s game against the Giants. “I think he was excited to get back out there and perform. So I think he’s disappointed in that regard but he’s also a smart young guy, he knows that’s the best thing.”
In five official rehabilitation starts combined in Rome, Mississippi and Gwinnett, Beachy gave up eight earned runs in 22 innings. He struck out 22 and walked 12, while giving up four home runs.
