After battling a meniscus tear in his right knee for the better part of the past three months, Chipper Jones on Sunday suffered a scare with his surgically repaired left knee.
Jones jammed his knee while hitting the first-base bag on a groundout in the eighth inning against the Cubs. Jones had surgery on the same knee for a torn anterior cruciate ligament last August, costing him the rest of the season.
Jones was out of the lineup on Monday night against the Giants, but he believes now it was just a scare. An MRI conducted Monday afternoon revealed no structural damage, and Jones hoped to be back in the lineup in a day or two.
“Any time I get something in my knees I’m scared to death that it’s going to cost me,” said Jones, who was worried he might have torn cartilage in his left knee. “My mind is at ease now.”
Jones was more than a week into his return from a quadriceps strain. Between that and his arthroscopic knee surgery on July 9, Jones has started only six of the Braves’ past 32 games.
Moylan faces hitters
Braves reliever Peter Moylan faced hitters in batting practice Monday for the first time in his recovery from herniated disc surgery. It was the next step in a process the Braves hope to complete by the end of August.
Judging by hitters’ reactions, he’s right on track.
"He looked really good," said Brooks Conrad, who said a chopper over the mound was the best he managed off Moylan. "[His] velocity was there; it was coming in pretty firm. His change-up looked good. He kept everything down."
Moylan, who threw 30 pitches to Conrad, Julio Lugo and J.C. Boscan, expects to throw batting practice again Wednesday. He'll soon take a minor league rehabilitation stint.
Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said he expects Moylan to pitch a handful of outings on rehab, including consecutive days. Even if he goes out later this week, Moylan will need all of next week to complete rehab.
Moylan said his back has held up well since he started playing catch over the All-Star break.
“I haven’t had a problem with it once, to be honest,” said Moylan, who felt immediate relief following May 17 surgery.
Six-man rotation?
Jair Jurrjens said his two weeks on the disabled list have served his right knee well, and he's on target to return Wednesday night against the Giants.
“Since spring training, this is the best I’ve felt this year,” said Jurrjens, who was 12-3 with a 1.87 ERA before the All-Star break and is 0-1 with a 6.26 ERA since. “You can say those 15 days were a good idea. I really didn’t want to do it but sometimes you need to be smart.”
Now the question is whether the Braves play it carefully with the rest of the rotation. They’re in the midst of a stretch of 17 straight games, and Gonzalez said he is at least toying with the idea of going to a six-man rotation for a couple of turns.
"We've kicked that around," said Gonzalez, who could keep Mike Minor in the rotation when Tommy Hanson returns. "We haven't put pencil to paper on it, but at this point of the year, everybody may need an extra day."
The extra day would provide protection for both Jurrjens and Hanson (shoulder), the latter hoping to return from the DL Aug. 23 in Chicago, and rest for veterans Tim Hudson and Derek Lowe.
“Guys’ innings are starting to build up, mine and D-Lowe’s, especially,” Hudson said. “We’re the elder statesmen of the staff and could probably use a [rest] here or there.”
Hudson (155 2/3 entering Monday) and Lowe (145 1/3) lead the Braves in innings pitched.
Draft deadline
With the passing of Monday’s midnight deadline, the Braves had signed 28 of their top 30 picks, including each of the top 19.
One of their objectives was to draft sign-able players by going college heavy, and it paid off. The Braves signed 35 of their 50 picks overall.
The only players not signed among the Braves' top 30 picks were 20th-rounder Carlos Rodriguez, a left-hander out of Iolani High (HI) School, and 30th-round pick Jonathan Youngblood, a center fielder out of Lafayette (Ky.) High. But the Braves signed two high school players, first baseman Jackson Laumann (31st) and center fielder Cody Livesay (42nd), in the past few days.
"We wanted to sign some high school kids right here at the end," Braves scouting director Tony DeMacio said. "We were able to do that here and there."
The only other player the Braves did not sign among their top 37 picks was 32nd-rounder Matt Kimbrel, the right-hander and younger brother of Braves closer Craig Kimbrel. The Braves drafted the other Kimbrel with the intention of following him through the summer to see how he progressed from elbow reconstruction surgery.
Kimbrel, who was drafted out of Shelton State (Ala.) Community College, had offers to play this fall at both Florida Southern and Lehigh.
Staff writer David O'Brien contributed to this article.
