PHOENIX – Jordan Walden was scratched from a scheduled one-inning appearance Saturday for Triple-A Gwinnett, but the rehabbing reliever is set to pitch Sunday and could still join the Braves in Colorado during the series that starts Monday.
Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said Walden, who has missed just over a month with a strained hamstring, didn’t have another setback and the team just wanted to give him another day to rest since his 24-pitch outing Thursday in his first appearance for the Triple-A team.
There is no question, however, that the hamstring has not healed as quickly as anticipated when he went on the 15-day disabled list.
“The original plan was to pitch today and meet us in Colorado Monday,” Gonzalez said before the Braves’ game Saturday against Arizona. “Now the plan is pitch (Sunday) and meet us in Colorado hopefully Tuesday. So he can still meet us on the road, just one day later.”
When Walden returns, Gonzalez said he would be back in his role as a seventh- and eighth-inning setup man.
Setup reliever David Carpenter has struggled in recent weeks, but the Braves were very encouraged by the performance of hard-throwing rookie Shae Simmons, who was called up from Triple-A a week ago and has excelled when thrust into some high-pressure situations in his first major league callup.
Simmons already had two holds and one save in four appearances before Saturday, with three strikeouts and one walk in 2 1/3 scoreless innings.
After left-hander Alex Wood got a strikeout and walked the second batter he faced, Gerardo Parra, in the eighth inning Friday against Arizona, the Braves brought in Simmons to face slugger Paul Goldschmidt with the potential tying run on base. Goldschmidt flied out to deep center on Simmons’ first pitch.
“That was a big out,” said Gonzalez, who then brought in closer Craig Kimbrel to get the last four outs for his franchise-record 155th career save.
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