HOUSTON — Jason Heyward had his second consecutive pain-free day of hitting, and Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said the right fielder could be ready for a minor-league assignment in a few days.
He has been on the disabled list since May 22 with shoulder inflammation.
Heyward took 70-100 swings each of the past two days, hitting balls off a tee or soft-tossed from coaches at Braves camp in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.
“I’m optimistic,” Gonzalez said. “He could go out maybe the middle of next week. I’m just guessing because he hit some off the tee and felt good today after doing that. Swung a little bit more than [Friday] and felt good.”
Gonzalez has said that Heyward would need at least two or three minor-league games before he’s activated. That could put his return to the major-leagues sometime around next weekend.
Reports from Lake Buena Vista also were good for Brandon Beachy, who pitched a three-inning simulated game Saturday, and center fielder Nate McLouth, who batted in the game. Both are recovering from oblique strains.
Beachy pitched three hitless innings (51 pitches) with one walk and five strikeouts against McLouth and rookie-league hitters. He reported no discomfort in his left side.
Chipper’s tip from dad
Chipper Jones’ three-hit, two-RBI game Friday in an 11-4 win against the Astros included two opposite-field hits to left — a homer and single — that were particularly important for the 39-year-old switch-hitter.
Before Friday, he had hit .216 from the left side and .324 from the right.
After struggling for weeks to iron out his left-handed swing, Jones made an adjustment following a Friday conversation with his dad, Larry Jones.
“My dad is unbelievable,” said Chipper, who has long turned to his father, a former college coach, for advice during slumps. “I mean, we had one conversation [Friday]. He just simplified things.
“I’ve got one extra hinge in my wrist, where when I cock it, the bat comes up this way [in front of him]. And he was like, just flatten it out and take your tuck around your head, as opposed to over your head. And ... wow.
“I haven’t hit two balls to left field like that all year. So it’s nice to get some results.”
Hot Freeman goes deep
Freddie Freeman hit a majestic two-run homer Friday, one of the longest in the 12-year history of Minute Maid Park.
But it might not have been the longest of the road trip for the Braves.
Jones hit one June 3 at New York in the road-trip opener that sailed into a second-level eating area at Citi Field, where dining fans were shocked a ball would carry so far as to interrupt their in-game meal.
“Whose went further, my ball or yours?” Jones said to Freeman on Saturday afternoon, as the rookie played cards with Dan Uggla in the clubhouse.
Freeman looked up from his cards at Chipper and smiled.
“Be honest,” Jones said.
“Yours,” said Freeman, 21, who knows how to say the right thing to a veteran.
Of course with the way he’s surging at the plate, he probably couldn’t say much wrong. Freeman had three hits and three RBIs on Friday to give him a .372 average with 11 extra-base hits and 11 RBIs in his past 19 games.
His homer was followed one pitch later by Alex Gonzalez’s homer, the second time this season the Braves have hit back-to-back homers — and the first time on consecutive pitches. Eric Hinske also homered Friday for the Braves, who matched their single-game seasonal highs for runs and homers (four).
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