When you're Michael Bourn, you get this question a lot: "Who's faster?"
Ever since he and Carl Crawfordwere on the same Little League team at age 9 and 10, Bourn has been urged to line it up and race. Now the latest he's getting asked about is his speedy new Braves teammate Jose Constanza.
Braves director of baseball administration John Coppolella has been clocking the two in the past few weeks, and he has both topping out around 3.8 seconds to first base, exceptional times.
Chipper Jones, for one, thinks Constanza might look faster but doesn't think that necessarily means he is faster.
“He’s just got shorter legs and his legs are moving faster and Mike’s got more of a long, loping stride,” Jones said. “But that would be an interesting race.”
Bourn is OK with not knowing, actually.
“I want to be able to keep my speed as long as I can, but if I wanted to race somebody all the time I’d just go run track,” Bourn said, smiling. “It just isn’t the point for me anymore…You can put your speed into play, but you’ve got to know how to use it. I want to be able to do all of that.”
Bourn said he was asked to race his fastest teammates throughout the minor leagues. He is glad not to have to do it anymore in the majors. The one he cared about the most was Crawford, and he just barely lost to him when they were 12. He did try to get a rematch five years ago, though.
“We got to talking noise at his house,” Bourn said. “’Oh, so now you think you’re faster than me too, huh?’ He said ‘If I’d have lost the race at 12 years old I’d have already been setting it back up.’”
As for Constanza and Bourn, Coppolella said Constanza is a little slower out of the box, but he makes up for it en route to first base.
“If I had to say which one was faster in a 100-yard dash? I’d say Constanza,” Coppolella said. “But it would be close.”
Jones’s work with Heyward
Chipper Jonessaid he couldn't help but put in his two cents one afternoon Aug. 6 in New York, when he saw Jason Heyward working in the batting cage with hitting coach Larry Parrish. After quietly watching for 10 minutes, he spoke up after noticing Heyward diving in on pitches.
By the time he was done talking, the three of them had been in the cage for an hour. Jones had showed Heyward a tee drill trying to work on hitting inside the ball, so he can drive even inside pitches up the middle. Jones also emphasized using left field.
“Guy can hit the ball out of the yard anywhere,” Jones said. “He’s got too much talent to be doing what he’s doing. If you’re thinking left center and you get a fastball in, you drop the hands inside and hit a bullet right back up the middle. Good hitters do it all the time.”
Heyward has been pounded inside consistently his sophomore season and has only a .218 batting average to show for it. But Jones was encouraged first with Heyward’s home run to center field off Dillon Gee the following night in New York and on Friday night, when Heyward sent a double over the third baseman’s head.
“When he hit (Gee) out, I got chills,” Jones said. “I was proud as a peacock. Ever since then he’s kind of been steadily getting better.”
Moylan set for rehab
Braves reliever Peter Moylanwill begin a minor league rehabilitation assignment Monday in Triple-A Gwinnett in his comeback from back surgery.
Moylan will start and go one inning or 25 pitches. Gwinnett is off Wednesday so Moylan will pitch again Thursday. After a day off, he’ll pitch Saturday. His final test will be going back-to-back days Aug. 30 and 31. If all goes well, he’ll be activated Sept. 1 or 2.
By being on the DL as of Aug. 31, Moylan would be eligible for the postseason roster, so the Braves don’t have to rush and get him activated by then.
Tommy Hanson, who is on the DL with shoulder tendinitis, is scheduled to throw a light bullpen Monday in Chicago. If all goes well, Hanson is tentatively scheduled to make a minor league rehab start Saturday in Gwinnett. Mike Minor is starting in place of Hanson Tuesday in Chicago and will likely get at least one more start in his spot on Sunday in New York.
