Brian McCann was out of the Braves starting lineup Sunday night as he continued to battle flu-like symptoms. The catcher was nearly back for the nationally televised game against the Nationals, according to manager Fredi Gonzalez, but wasn't quite ready after going through pre-game running drills.
There is a possibility McCann could return for Monday’s afternoon series-opener against the Cardinals, but may sit one more day as a precaution and return Tuesday. Gonzalez said he would leave it up to McCann but would also take into account the forecast of 90-plus degree temperature.
McCann was available to pinch hit or serve as a late defensive replacement Sunday night. He missed three straight games with the illness before being forced into action Friday when backup David Ross injured his groin. McCann also served as a pinch-hitter Saturday.
“It may be better off until Tuesday,” Gonzalez said. “I told him ‘If you come in tomorrow and you feel good, let’s give it a shot. If we get five or six innings that’s three at-bats we get out of you.’”
Ross, who suffered a left groin strain checking his swing in the second inning Friday, said he felt much better Sunday and was hoping to only miss four or five days, with a tentative return of Wednesday against the Cardinals.
“I’m still sore,” Ross said. “I was doing some of the tests [with trainers]. They were testing my strength. I’m a little weak on some of them. For the most part, I feel a lot better than yesterday. That was a good sign.”
Ross hit off a tee Saturday and Sunday and was encouraged. McCann was the backup Sunday with Ross serving as the “emergency, emergency” catcher and able to pinch-hit.
The Braves brought J.C. Boscan up from Triple-A Gwinnett. He started behind the plate Saturday, with a hit and an RBI, and Sunday.
Freeman out with blurry vision
The Braves were also without first baseman Freddie Freeman Sunday as he continues to battle blurry vision caused by dry eyes.
Freeman, who also missed Saturday's game, told team trainers before the game he was still experiencing the issue. Eric Hinske started at first base.
Freeman has tried different combination of contact lenses, sports goggles, eye drops and diet to try to alleviate the issue, which first arose in Colorado at the beginning of the month.
“We are going to take our time,” Gonzalez said. “The doctor said it’s a process. It’s a process of getting the right glasses and the right contacts and the right mixture of [eye] solution. … He has to be patient. He can’t go through 12 pairs of contacts in one night. That isn’t going to help.”
Both Under Armour and Oakley are working on a pair of prescription wrap-around goggles for Freeman that the team hopes arrive soon.
The Braves were hoping to have Orel Hersisher, in town as part of the ESPN Sunday Night Baseball telecast, speak to Freeman. Hersisher said he experienced the same problem in 1998 with the Giants when he reported to his first spring training in Arizona.
“You have to find the right balance of how much fluid you need and it changes depending on what environment you are in,” Hershiser said.
Hershiser, who had a similar conversation with McCann when he had eye issues in 2010, passed along a tip he received to alleviate the issue. Hershiser learned to trick his body into producing tears by closing his eyes for five seconds and looking up, imitating what the eyes do during sleep. By opening his eyes fast after the five seconds, the body produces tears similar to awaking from sleep.
Jones has surgery
Chipper Jones underwent a surgical procedure Saturday morning to remove fluid from his left leg.
Jones, on the 15-day disabled list with a contusion, said he had 120 ccs drained from what he describes as a hematoma.
“I feel so much better now,” Jones said. “It was throbbing. It let me know with everything that I did. Now, we’ve relieved a lot of the pressure down there and I can’t feel my heartbeat [in the ankle] anymore.
Jones said he was told my doctors that had he not had the surgical procedure he would have been dealing with the issue into September. Although he would have been able to play prior, he would have faced more problems had the area suffered another hit, such as from a foul ball.
Jones suffered the injury after being hit by a one-hopper off the bat of the Ray's B.J. Upton on the artificial turf in Tampa on May 18th. He hopes to be able to return soon after being eligible to come off the disabled list, retroactive to Thursday.
A trip to the disabled list became necessary with Jones’ inability to run. He was able to pinch-hit but required a pinch-runner. Jones said he didn’t want to force Gonzalez to use two players with an already short bench. With McCann, Ross and Freeman out of the lineup, the Braves needed to make a roster move in the midst of a six-game losing streak.
“This team will make its adjustments,” Jones said. “We are going through a rough time right now. We have guys who are sick, not able to play. We got guys hurt, gimpy. We got people who can’t see. Maybe we will get everybody healthy, not sick and able to see again all at the same time and we’ll go back on a pretty good roll.”
Entering Sunday night’s game against the Nationals, the Braves were 19-5 with Jones in the lineup and 7-17 without him.
“No I can’t,” Jones said when asked to point to the reason the team has struggled in his absence. “It’s frustrating to watch. Somebody has to step up. There are a 162 games to look forward to next year. Somebody has to step out. Somebody has to get the big out, get the big hit, make the big play -- all those things that you have to do on a daily basis to win ball games.”
Prado back at third
Martin Prado was at third base Sunday night, his second game at the position this season and a move from his left field position. It could be an indicator that Prado will move to third base on a regular basis while Jones is on the disabled list.Gonzalez was wary about moving hot-hitting Prado between the two positions. Gonzalez said he wanted to give Juan Francisco another game or two to at third base before making a decision.
Francisco had three hits against the Nationals on Saturday. However, he suffered a “minor” hamstring injury during the game. He was held out of the starting lineup Sunday, although he was available to pinch-hit.
“Yesterday, before Francisco’s bat spoke to us and got three hits, I was thinking about putting [Prado] at third base for a while,” Gonzalez said. “And maybe so. We’ll see.”
Venters a victim of long ball
Jonny Venters had given up only three home runs in his first two seasons in the major leagues (over 164 outings). Now he's given up three in his past two weeks, including a solo shot to Bryce Harper in Saturday's 8-4 loss to the Nationals.
For Venters it’s an indication that his sinking fastball isn’t sinking like it should, which Gonzalez thinks is a function of his hand position.
“The sinker is coming out sideways instead of going down, and for me that’s just tinkering a little bit with the hand position,” Gonzalez said. “The thing we can do as managers and coaches, you’ve got to keep running him out there (to build) confidence. He’ll be fine.”
Venters said he and pitching coach Roger McDowell have been working on the mechanical adjustments in bullpen sessions and he thinks it's just a matter of repetition and getting comfortable with them.
“It’s getting better,” Venters said. “I felt great (Saturday) physically and mechanically. I just made a couple mistakes.”
Staff writer Carroll Rogers contributed to this report.
