The Braves continued to reshape their pitching staff on the fly Monday, signing veteran starter Aaron Harang to a one-year contract only hours after he was released by Cleveland.
Harang, 35, will fill a spot in the rotation until they get starters Mike Minor and Gavin Floyd off the disabled list in late April. Harang had a 2.00 ERA in four games (two starts) for the Indians this spring and requested his release after being told he wouldn’t make Cleveland’s opening-day roster.
Harang is expected to join an opening-day rotation led by Julio Teheran and left-hander Alex Wood and expected to include rookie David Hale, who was knocked around for 12 hits and six runs in 5 1/3 innings Monday night against the Astros.
The Braves will add former All-Star Ervin Santana to the rotation in the second week of the season, after the recently signed former American League All-Star makes a few more exhibition starts to build arm strength.
After giving Garcia his unconditional release, general manager Frank Wren said before Monday’s game that the team was exploring options and could add a pitcher released by another team. The Harang deal was announced in the sixth inning. He signed a major league deal with the Braves, after having a minor-league contract with Cleveland.
Harang impressed scouts more than Freddy Garcia did before his release Monday. Harang, a 6-foot-7 right-hander, was 5-12 with a 5.40 ERA in 26 starts last season for Seattle and the Mets.
The San Diego native has a 110-116 record and 4.28 ERA in 325 career games (319 starts) over 12 seasons with six teams, including eight with Cincinnati. He was 10-10 with a 3.61 ERA in 179 2/3 innings for the Dodgers in 2012.
Braves look at lefty Perez: Reliever Luis Perez came to Braves camp to throw for team officials Monday and the free agent could be an option as an experienced bullpen arm and situational left-hander to complement Luis Avilan.
Perez had arthroscopic surgery in January to remove scar tissue from his elbow, after missing most of the 2013 season while recovering from Tommy John surgery. He was out of minor-league options and was released last week by the Blue Jays.
Perez, 29, has been effective against lefty hitters, holding them to a .239 career opponents’ average and .311 on-base percentage in 78 appearances (four starts) over parts of three seasons with Toronto.
He was a big part of the Blue Jays’ bullpen in 2012, when he had a 3.43 ERA and 39 strikeouts in 42 innings and held lefty hitters to a .194 average (12-for-62) with 23 strikeouts.
The Braves have only one experienced lefty reliever (Avilan) and hope to get Jonny Venters back in June after he completes his rehab from a second Tommy John surgery. They could also have one of two rookies, Ian Thomas or Atahualpo Severino, as a second lefty reliever.
Etc.: The Braves cut five others from the spring roster, optioning lefty reliever Ryan Buchter and outfielders Jose Constanza and Joey Terdoslavich to Triple-A Gwinnett and re-assigning infielder Tyler Green and second-base prospect Tommy La Stella to minor league camp. The moves left utility man Tyler Pastornicky to fill the last bench job. … Freddie Freeman, Justin Upton and Chris Johnson all homered Monday, Johnson's a long, three-run shot that was his first of the spring.
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