David Hale is the kind of guy who does the daily crossword puzzle in ink. The Princeton graduate has been doing it every day in the Braves’ clubhouse this trip, in his first taste of the major leagues. He was back at it at his locker Thursday morning in Miami, though Hale has a few other priorities now.
Hale is scheduled to make his major debut Friday night at Turner Field against the Padres. He’s making a spot start in place of Paul Maholm, who is skipping a start to rest a sore elbow.
Hale has gone from a wide-eyed September call-up, who wondered when he might get an opportunity to pitch an inning or two out of the bullpen, to visualizing walking out on the mound for his first major league start.
“Oh, I’ve thought about it plenty already,” Hale said smiling. “I don’t think it’ll compare to what it’ll actually be. It’s crazy to think that I was 4 or 5 years old going to (Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium) and watching these guys play. It’s cool to be a part of it.”
Hale is a Marietta native who grew up going to Braves games. One of his Cobb County neighbors, otherwise known as Braves broadcaster Joe Simpson, kidded Hale on Thursday morning in the Braves’ clubhouse, tapping him on the shoulder and saying, “What, did we run out of pitchers?”
Hale didn’t even become a pitcher until his senior season at The Walker School, when his coaches decided to give their hard-throwing shortstop a try on the mound after graduating some pitchers.
“At first I didn’t (like it), but as it went on, I was OK at it, and I started to like it more,” Hale said.
He pitched and played the outfield at Princeton before the Braves drafted him as a pitcher in the third round in 2009.
Hale, who turns 25 on Sept. 27, has made a steady progression through the Braves’ minor league system. He earned his first invitation to big-league camp in spring training and was 6-9 with a 3.22 ERA in 22 games (20 starts) this season at Triple-A Gwinnett. He made 10 quality starts in his last 14 outings, while putting up a 2.26 ERA, after returning from a month out to rest a sore shoulder. He last pitched Sept. 2 in Gwinnett’s season finale in Charlotte, N.C., giving up four runs (three earned) in six innings of a loss.
As soon as the Braves announced Hale’s impending start, the text messages and calls started coming. His brother Matt, 22, is flying home from LSU, and his sister Morgan, 24, is coming home from graduate school at the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta.
Hale threw a bullpen session during the Braves’ loss to the Marlins on Wednesday night. Now all he has to do is get some sleep.
“I slept fine last night,” Hale said. “Tonight might be a different story.”
Beachy update: Brandon Beachy has backed off his throwing program, continuing to feel discomfort in his surgically repaired right elbow. He had just begun to play catch again last weekend in Philadelphia.
“I’m not where I want to be, that’s really all I have to say about it,” Beachy said Thursday. “I’m frustrated, and I’m not where I want to be.”
The Braves shut Beachy down for a little more than two weeks after a second bout with elbow inflammation in his 15th month back from Tommy John surgery. Beachy made five starts, going 2-1 with a 4.50 ERA, before his elbow started to bother him again during an Aug. 20 start in New York.
An MRI taken on his elbow showed no structural damage to the ligament, and the idea was that with another period of rest, maybe Beachy could build back up in time to make a start or two, or pitch some in relief, for the stretch run and possibly the playoffs. That’s coming into question now, though Beachy isn’t ruling out a return.
“Nothing else has changed,” Beachy said. “Still the same goals, the same hopes. Just not where I want to be right now.”
Fernandez apology: Chris Johnson was the Braves player most visibly upset with Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez on Wednesday night. He was the one who charged in from third base after catcher Brian McCann had words for the demonstrative young Marlins ace for admiring the home run he hit during the Marlins' 5-2 win, setting off a benches-clearing confrontation.
Johnson also was one of the Braves players Fernandez made a point to apologize to after the game. Fernandez caught Johnson’s attention coming off the field after the game by whistling.
“He said he was sorry,” said Johnson, who did some mid-at-bat jawing with Fernandez and took exception to him spitting near third base as he rounded the bases on his homer.
“I was like ‘Don’t worry about it, dude,’” Johnson said. “I told him, I, of all people, know how it is to get going during a game. And then he’s like ‘It’s not all right, it’s not all right, and I’m sorry.’ ‘Don’t worry about it, man, it’s over.’”
Fernandez also asked to meet McCann and pitcher Mike Minor in the hallway outside of the Braves’ clubhouse after the game to apologize.
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