So much for easing his way back into the Braves’ rotation. Tim Hudson took the mound Tuesday night in the final outing of his minor league rehabilitation stint in Gwinnett with a little more at stake.
As the veteran gears up to come off the disabled list Sunday against the Pirates, the Braves sent Jair Jurrjens packing for a minor league stint in Gwinnett, leaving a greater need for Hudson to reclaim his place at the head of the Braves’ rotation.
Hudson, who gave up one run in 5 2/3 innings Tuesday night, is penciled in to start Sunday against the Pirates.
“I feel like we’re going pretty good from a team standpoint,” Hudson said. “The chemistry is really good. We’re playing some good baseball. Whatever I can do to come in and make some kind of positive impact, that’s always what I’m looking to do.”
Just when it looked like the Braves might send rookie Randall Delgado to Gwinnett to make room for Hudson’s return to the rotation, they optioned the struggling Jurrjens to Triple-A instead.
About the time Hudson returns from spinal fusion surgery Jurrjens, a 2011 All-Star and leader of the Braves rotation will try to dig deep.
“Tough call all the way around, but obviously it wasn’t the JJ we’ve seen in the past,” Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said Tuesday. “... Like I told him last night, and again this morning before he got on the plane, ‘You’re not the first guy to go down to the minor leagues. Come back up after whatever amount of starts it takes to get fixed, and have a great, long career in the major leagues.’ It’s up to him. And we as an organization are going to try to get him back and help us win ballgames in the big leagues.”
Jurrjens flew to Atlanta on Tuesday morning. The Braves expect him to report to Gwinnett on Wednesday, though he had 72 hours before he is required to report.
“Our job is to get some confidence back in him,” said Gwinnett manager Dave Brundage, who plans to start him Saturday in Toledo.
Brundage, Gwinnett pitching coach Marty Reed, Gonzalez and Braves pitching coach Roger McDowell have formulating a plan, and it’s extensive.
“It’s big. ...It’s almost a re-do,” Gonzalez said. “He needs to buy into whatever we’re going to ask him to do for him to get back up here. Confidence, arm strength, leg strength, weight training, conditioning, the whole thing. It’s mental — I guess that falls under confidence. He’s going to have to buy into it.”
Jurrjens made no excuses for his struggles Monday night.
“For now, I’m not the same guy I used to be,” Jurrjens said in Los Angeles, shortly before finding out he’d been demoted. “Just going to keep fighting.”
Jurrjens has insisted his right knee is not the problem, as it was the second half of last season and the final month of the 2010 season before he underwent meniscus surgery. His fastball has touched 91 mph, an improvement over much of the past two seasons, but his pitches have lacked life and location.
Jurrjens is 0-2 with a 9.37 ERA with a .411 opponents’ batting average in four starts this season. He has given up 30 hits, including five home runs, in 16 1/3 innings. He has walked 10 and struck out only eight. He was optioned to Gwinnett after three-plus innings in a 7-2 loss to the Dodgers in which 10 of the 17 batters he faced reach base.
“We optioned Jair to give him a chance to work through his difficulties at the Triple-A level and hopefully come back ready to help us contend,” Braves general manager Frank Wren had said in a text message shortly after the announcement. “He is not having any health or injury issues, just needs to get back on track pitching-wise.”
When asked Monday night if he preferred to skip a start when Hudson returned, Jurrjens said: “No, I’m not a quitter.”
After going 12-3 with a 1.86 ERA in his first 16 starts last season, he is 1-6 with a 6.87 ERA and .335 opponents’ batting average in 11 starts since.
His teammates empathize.
“Even if a guy’s struggling ... to see them actually get sent down, especially after a career like he’s had, All-Star game — you don’t wish that upon anybody,” Braves catcher David Ross said. “There’s not one person in here who hasn’t been humbled at some point in your career.”
Hudson can relate, mentioning his struggles in 2006 when he went 13-12 with a career-high 4.86 ERA.
“Sometimes you have to reinvent yourself,” Hudson said. “When I first came up I was a sinker/split guy. Now I throw everything under the moon.”
Staff writer David O’Brien contributed to this article.
