WASHINGTON – Jair Jurrjens returning for a potential first-round playoff series still seemed unlikely, but Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez left open the possibility Sunday.
Jurrjens threw 44 pitches in three innings of an Instructional League game Saturday in Florida, his first time pitching in a game of any sort since an Aug. 30 start against Washington.
“He did OK,” Gonzalez said Sunday.
Given the depleted state of the Braves pitching staff, “OK” just might be enough.
Jurrjens has been sidelined with a bone bruise in his right knee, the knee that kept him out of the 2010 postseason when he had a meniscus tear and arthroscopic surgery.
The bone bruise developed this summer and prevented him from pushing off the mound properly. Jurrjens is 1-3 with a 5.88 ERA in seven starts since the break, after going 12-3 with a 1.87 ERA before the break and making the All-Star team.
The right-hander was fitted for a custom knee brace this month and spent a couple of weeks doing specialized drills prescribed by Dr. James Steadman, the renowned orthopedist and “knee man” who examined Jurrjens in Vail, Colo.
Jurrjens said last week after two bullpen sessions that the knee felt stronger and more sound.
Desperate times, desperate measures
Last week Gonzalez said it was doubtful that Jurrjens could make it back, at least not for the first round of the postseason. He also said several times that he wouldn't start Jurrjens or fellow rehabbing pitcher Tommy Hanson (shoulder) in the postseason without first having them start a regular-season game to show they're ready.
Desperate times sometimes call for desperate measures. These are such times for the Braves.
Hanson could start the season finale Wednesday against Philadelphia, but only if his shoulder felt good after a Sunday bullpen session and only if the Braves have clinched the wild card.
If they have not, then Tim Hudson would start that game on his regular rotation turn.
In an Instructional League start Thursday, Hanson had some soreness in the scapula of his troublesome pitching shoulder and was pulled as precautionary measure after throwing 41 pitches in two innings.
The right-hander is recovering from a subsurface rotator-cuff tear, and Thursday was his first time in any game since an Aug. 6 start for the Braves. He is 1-3 with an 8.10 ERA in five starts since the All-Star break, after going 10-4 with a 2.77 ERA before the break.
Medlen perfect in return from DL
Thirteen months after ligament-transplant elbow surgery, Braves pitcher Kris Medlen worked a perfect eighth inning in Sunday's 3-0 oss to the Nationals in his first game back.
Medlen, who was was activated from the 60-day disabled list on Saturday, fielded a comebacker to the mound behind his back, then recorded a strikeout and flyout to shallow center field for a seven-pitch, six-strike inning.
“Felt good -- I floated to the mound from the bullpen," he said, smiling. "Obviously it’s bittersweet. I’d much rather go in and get a scoreless inning up 10-0 than down three runs. But from a personal level I can’t be happier, from the amount of work I put in and all that.”
Two months ago, the Braves announced he'd be shut down for the rest of the season following a breakup of surgery-related scar tissued in his elbow during the rehab process. But they changed course two weeks ago because of a bullpen need and because Medlen felt good.
Shortstop Alex Gonzalez missed his fourth consecutive start since straining his right calf. He had planned to miss only one or two starts, but still felt some soreness when he did any explosive movements. The Braves hope to have him back in the lineup Monday.
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