The Braves placed reliever Peter Moylan on the disabled list Saturday with a lower back strain when they activated Jair Jurrjens for the second game of their doubleheader with the Mets.
Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said the side-armer has been trying to pitch through his back soreness. He last pitched two-thirds of an inning Thursday against the Marlins, allowing one hit and striking out two.
“We’ve protected him, given him two, three days off, and it hasn’t gotten any better,” Gonzalez said. “We’ll go ahead and give him a couple weeks and see if that gets better in the long-term.”
Moylan pitched twice in the Marlins’ series, Tuesday and Thursday. Before that, he had four days off, not pitching against the Phillies and with Monday’s off day. The move is retroactive to April 15.
Moylan is 1-0 with a 4.15 ERA in seven appearances this season.
Earlier Saturday, the Braves called up reliever Jairo Asencio from Triple-A Gwinnett. Asencio last pitched in Atlanta in 2009, under the name Luis Valdez. The Braves optioned catcher J.C. Boscan back to Gwinnett.
Lowe on short rest
Braves starter Derek Lowe will pitch Wednesday’s game in Los Angeles on short rest. Lowe pitched the first game Saturday, and by virtue of having his start pushed back one day because of Friday’s rainout, his spot came up again early.
The Braves chose to go with Lowe on three days’ rest rather than call on Mike Minor from Gwinnett or try to piece together an outing from their bullpen.
Lowe is 3-1 with a 4.40 ERA in five career starts on three days’ rest in the regular season. He made his second start in last year’s series against the Giants on three days’ rest and allowed only two runs in 6 2/3 innings in the 3-2 loss.
Playing time
Saturday’s doubleheader provided Gonzalez a chance to work in some of his bench players for some rare at-bats.
Eric Hinske was scheduled to start at first base in the second game, and David Ross at catcher. They would be the second starts of the season for both veterans, 15 games into the season.
“That’s how April goes,” said Hinske who entered Saturday 0-for-8, and 0-for-5 as a pinch hitter. “Your starters don’t need rest. All you can do is prepare and go out there and do what you can when you get called on.”
Third baseman Chipper Jones was scheduled to play in both games Saturday, surgically repaired left knee and all. Gonzalez didn’t want to have both Brian McCann and Jones out of the lineup in the same game.
“We’ve got to be careful with Chipper and his leg, but you hate to take McCann and Chipper both out of the lineup,” Gonzalez said. He plans to rest Jones today.
Happy for Salazar
Nobody was happier for manager Luis Salazar when he returned to the field Friday night at Class A Lynchburg than McCann. It was McCann’s foul ball that hit Salazar in the face and knocked him unconscious in a spring-training game March 9.
“He’s one of the strongest people I’ve ever met,” McCann said. “He looks at this whole experience as a positive, getting a second chance to do everything. [Getting on the field again] means everything, and it’s only been a month. It’s been amazing.”
Salazar lost his left eye, but came away grateful for his life.
“If you don’t have his attitude going into this, then it can ruin your life,” McCann said. “To have his mindset, to not skip a beat, to get back out there and do the things he loves, it makes me feel very happy for him and his whole family.”
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