For the Braves, seeing reliever Jonny Venters staring at his sore left arm before being pulled from Tuesday’s game against Detroit put a damper on the last week of spring training.
He was diagnosed with a sprained elbow and presumably will open the season on the 15-day disabled list.
“We’ll re-evaluate tomorrow, see what happens,” said Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez, who said he didn’t know anything more regarding the severity of the injury.
Pitching in a major league game for the first time in 13 days, Venters faced five batters in the sixth inning and gave up a leadoff homer, a walk and a triple before throwing a wild pitch to the fifth batter, a ball that went to the backstop screen.
One pitch later, he signaled to the dugout. Gonzalez and a trainer came out, and Venters soon headed to the clubhouse.
When asked last week why Venters hadn’t pitched since a four-walk inning against St. Louis on March 13, both Venters and Gonzalez said there was nothing in particular wrong with him and he was just getting some rest.
After Tuesday’s game, Gonzalez was asked again, this time specifically if the elbow had bothered Venters this spring.
“Off and on,” he said. “From the other day, that minor league game, all indications were that he was good.”
Venters pitched a perfect inning in a weekend minor league game. In six Grapefruit League games, he has pitched 6 2/3 innings and allowed 13 hits (two homers), eight runs (six earned) and six walks with six strikeouts.
He had a stint on the DL in July for an inflamed elbow. At that time he revealed the problem had flared a few times previously during the season. He also was rested nearly two weeks late in 2012 spring training for a sore shoulder.
Venters has 230 relief appearances in three major league seasons, including a majors-leading 85 in 2011. As a minor leaguer seven years ago, he had ligament-transplant elbow surgery, aka “Tommy John” surgery.
One of the majors’ top relievers in his first two seasons, he had a career-worst 3.22 ERA in 66 appearances last season, but pitched well after coming back from the DL, with a 1.71 ERA in his final 26 appearances.
Hudson wraps up spring: In his last outing before an opening-day start Monday against Philadelphia, Tim Hudson pitched four innings in a tune-up start against Detroit, allowing four hits and one run with two walks and one strikeout in a 6-5 Braves win on a blustery, unseasonably chilly Florida afternoon.
“Conditions weren’t ideal, but April is probably going to be a lot like that at the places we’re going to be playing in,” Hudson said. “I’ve got a few things I want to iron out, small things in my delivery. But for the most part, I feel like everything’s in line to be where I want to be for the start of the season.”
Walden impressive: After Jordan Walden gave up a one-out single, a walk and a wild pitch to put runners on the corners in the fifth inning, the reliever struck out Prince Fielder and Victor Martinez. It was his third appearance in seven days, after getting an epidural for a bulging disc.
Etc. Juan Francisco continued his strong spring with a double and his sixth home run, a ninth-inning solo shot off ex-Brave Oscar Villarreal to snap a 5-5 tie. He ranks second on the team in homers, one behind Freddie Freeman. … Catcher Brian McCann, in his first game action since October shoulder surgery, had a sacrifice fly and a fly-out in two plate appearances in a minor league game. He's permitted only to hit, not catch or run the bases, until April 16, the six-month mark after surgery. McCann likely will be on the DL until at least late April. … Infielder Paul Janish, also recovering from shoulder surgery, had a double and ground out in two at-bats in a minor league game. He had surgery to his non-throwing shoulder in October and is expected to be ready to play before McCann.
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