The Braves will skip rookie Alex Wood’s next scheduled start Thursday against the Marlins to give him a breather, like they did both Mike Minor and Julio Teheran, heading toward the playoffs.
Veteran Freddy Garcia will start in Wood’s place Thursday against the Marlins. Miami’s starter Nathan Eovaldi has had some back stiffness and might be scratched as well, in which case left-hander Brian Flynn will start in his place.
Wood, 22, is pitching in his first full professional season, after pitching 52 innings in the minors last year after being drafted out in the second round from the University of Georgia.
Wood has pitched 132 1/3 innings this season between the majors (70 1/3) and minor league stints in Mississippi and Gwinnett (62). Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said Wood will likely fall back into the rotation Monday or Tuesday in Washington.
The Brave gave Teheran a 10-day break before he started Tuesday night in Miami. Minor had an eight-day break before his start Aug. 25 in St. Louis. Kris Medlen is likely to stay on his regular rotation the rest of the season, because he went 10 days between starts around the All-Star break.
It’ll be Garcia’s first start as a Brave since they acquired him in a trade with Baltimore on Aug. 23. He’s allowed one earned run in 7 2/3 innings over three relief appearances.
