The last thing the Braves needed Monday was another sore pitcher and that’s what they got when Brandon Beachy left his start against Philadelphia after two innings due to tightness in his right biceps, centralized near the elbow.
“I’m not worried at all about it,” Beachy said after allowing two hits and two walks in two innings, and throwing 14 strikes in 37 pitches. “I’ve seen the doctors. They’ve done everything. My ligament’s fine. I’ve got some inflammation in there and it got a little too tight in my biceps and it was just a little unproductive to keep going and pushing through it.”
His exit came just under 24 hours after Kris Medlen left his start against the Mets with pain in the forearm/elbow area. The Braves were still awaiting MRI results of Medlen’s injury Monday evening.
Beachy was limited to five starts in 2013 before having his second elbow surgery in a 15-month span, an arthroscopic procedure on Sept. 26 to remove a bone chip. He had Tommy John ligament-transplant surgery on the elbow in June 2012.
“Obviously more of the guys in camp come into play, some of these other pitchers,” Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said of the mounting rotation health issues. “But let’s not count (Beachy) out just yet.”
Beachy said the discomfort felt nothing like before his surgeries.
“When I went down in 2012, it felt like a stabbing sensation,” he said. “Last year, it felt full in the joint and it was just shooting out all around. This is nothing like either of those. It’s just kind of a dull tightness. I’ve been throwing through it. That’s just normal from what I hear. You just get through it.”
Asked if he thought he would be ready for the season in three weeks, Beachy said, “We’ll see how it recovers.”
Beachy said he experienced tightness in each of his previous two spring-training starts, but that it was more severe Monday. He said he’d been assured before Monday’s outing it was something he could try to pitch through and that it might loosen up after throwing for a while.
He said during his previous starts, the tightness did lessen. But on Monday, it worsened instead.
“Again, I don’t think it’s something that we need to panic about,” Gonzalez said, “and we’ll take it a day at a time.”
Six days earlier, Beachy threw three hitless innings against the Phillies.
“Today was worse than it was last time and the time before, to the point where I didn’t think throwing through it was productive,” said Beachy, who didn’t think an MRI would be necessary. “I really don’t think there’s any reason to do that. I know exactly what it is, what it’s been, what I’m dealing with.”
J-Hey starts offense: Jason Heyward's towering first-inning leadoff home run extended his streak to six hits (including two homers) in six consecutive plate appearances and started the Braves toward their best overall game of the spring in an 8-1 win against the Phillies.
Dan Uggla added a long two-run homer, second-base prospect Tommy La Stella had a two-run double off Jonathan Papelbon, and the Braves got two hits apiece from B.J. Upton, Freddie Freeman and Chris Johnson for their third win in 15 spring games.
Heyward unloaded on the second pitch of the game from left-hander Cliff Lee, driving it over the right-field fence and clearing a second chain-link fence atop a berm some 30 feet beyond.
HoRam is back: Former Braves pitcher Horacio Ramirez has been hired as a coaching assistant in a position created by the expanded new replay system. During games, Ramirez will watch games on monitors in the clubhouse and call the dugout to advise Gonzalez on when he should challenge a reviewable umpiring decision.
By hiring Ramirez, 34, the Braves also get a lefty who can throw batting practice and assist with other on-field duties before games.
Minor trade: The Braves added some depth by getting well-traveled right-hander Zach Stewart from the White Sox in exchange for cash considerations. Stewart, 27, was 6-14 with a 4.25 ERA in 28 starts in Triple-A last season and wasn't on the White Sox' 40-man roster. He'll likely be assigned to Triple-A Gwinnett.
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