The optimistic projection is that the platelet-rich plasma injection that Braves relief pitcher Jonny Venters received in his left elbow Tuesday will alleviate his pain and allow him to pitch as soon as next month.
“Hopefully, this is all I need,” Venters said Wednesday at Turner Field.
But “hope” was the word Venters had to use because it’s not certain the treatment will keep him off the operating table again. He won’t know for sure until he returns to throwing four weeks from now.
Because Venters had Tommy John surgery after the 2005 season, he said the MRI of his elbow is harder to read and thus was inconclusive. Prominent surgeon Dr. James Andrews, who performed Venters’ 2005 surgery, suggested the PRP treatment.
Venters, 28, said the injection “kind of hits everything I need” because it promotes healing, the growth of new cells and acts as an anti-inflammatory. Teammate Kris Medlen received a PRP injection during his rehabilitation from Tommy John surgery after some tearing of scar tissue.
Even as he’s optimistic about the injection working, Venters said he has contemplated the worst-case scenario: another surgery for ligament damage.
“It’s always in the back of your mind when you have something like this you don’t know what’s wrong in there,” Venters said. “After talking to a few doctors and Dr. Andrews, they all felt very positive about this PRP shot, and it could really knock it out and do the trick. I came out of it really upbeat and positive, and I’m going to work as hard as I can and hopefully it works.”
If all goes well, Venters said a return in late May is plausible.
“Four weeks of no throwing, so depending on how I feel it will be how quick I will be able to ramp it up and get in game situations,” he said. “I just throw the ball whenever they tell me I’m allowed.”
Venters has been a workhorse, with 230 appearances since 2010, second to Sean Marshall among major league relievers. The Braves are in position to cover his absence because of a quality bullpen that includes lefties Eric O’Flaherty and Luis Avilan.
He said watching the Braves defeat the Phillies on Monday was a “weird” experience that he enjoyed, “but it would have been my first opening day in Atlanta, and I was kind of bummed I missed that.”
Venters said he would like to travel with the team, but that depends how his arm feels. His wife, Viviana, is expecting to deliver a baby soon. He said that’s one positive about being on the disabled list.
No skipping Teheran: Julio Teheran will make his season debut Saturday against the Chicago Cubs, and Tim Hudson will start Sunday's series finale, manager Fredi Gonzalez announced Wednesday.
The Braves considered bringing back opening-day starter Hudson to pitch Saturday and pushing Teheran’s start to Sunday because Hudson would’ve been on the regular four days’ rest Saturday because of Tuesday’s team day off. Kris Medlen starts Thursday’s series finale against Philadelphia and Mike Minor starts the series opener against the Cubs.
Gonzalez said going forward, he’ll probably keep the starters in order even after off days. In past years, the fifth starter was sometimes skipped several times during a season.
“He’s pitched good enough where maybe you don’t want to skip him,” Gonzalez said of Teheran, who was 3-1 with a staff-best 1.06 ERA in six spring starts, with 35 strikeouts and nine walks in 26 innings.
Medlen ready for start: Kris Medlen's dominant 2012 season was followed by some rough outings during spring training. They were only exhibition games, but he still was looking for some positives when he stayed behind in Florida to pitch in a minor-league game Friday.
He got what he wanted out of that outing and a bullpen session Tuesday in preparation for Thursday’s start against the Phillies.
“It was better,” Medlen said. “Sure, I was facing some minor-league guys, but they were some Triple-A guys, and I got crushed in Triple-A last year. So, for me, everything felt better. I made a couple little adjustments.”
He pitched four innings against the minor league squad and allowed four hits and one run with no walks and three strikeouts. Braves catcher Brian McCann, who is on the disabled list, knocked a ground-rule RBI double off Medlen (“terrible change-up,” Medlen said), but that was the only damage.
“Still trying to work on the curve ball,” Medlen said. “But I thought I made some progress (with) that last start.”
McCann update: McCann and infielder Paul Janish, each recovering from shoulder surgery, will fly back to Florida on Thursday to continue playing in extended spring training games. For now, both are permitted only to hit in games, giving way to pinch-runners each at-bat in order to avoid sliding or potential collisions.
McCann won’t be cleared for full participation until April 16, the six-month mark in his recovery since surgery. He could begin a minor-league rehab stint at that point or soon after.
