Jason Heyward made a pair of acrobatic catches in each of his past two games — a diving catch in left-center field Monday night and a leaping catch at the wall Tuesday night — giving an indication as to how little hesitation he’s felt about coming back from a broken jaw.
“I’m having fun,” Heyward said. “Confidence is not an issue there. Once I was in shape, I was ready to go play and whatever happened — just hoping the ball is hit my way.”
Heyward gives the Braves confidence that he’s the man to play center field in the playoffs, which would allow them to keep Evan Gattis in left field and Justin Upton in right.
Heyward has played 16 games in center field this season, after playing only two last season.
“He’s got a reckless abandon, too,” Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. “He’s fast. He gets good reads, and he’s not afraid to leave his feet. He’s not afraid to challenge the wall. He gives us a nice option out there.”
Having Heyward show such a high comfort level in center, and with Jordan Schafer available to back him up, raises questions about whether the Braves will put the struggling B.J. Upton on the 25-man playoff roster. If they decide to carry 12 pitchers in the division series, which Gonzalez said Wednesday is an option, despite the short series and off days, Upton could be the odd man out.
“Are you going to have a guy on the bench when you’d really rather have another pitcher?” Gonzalez said. “Our bench is pretty good; maybe you could go one less pitcher.”
Gonzalez said he and the coaches met with general manager Frank Wren and staff Wednesday to start talking about the postseason roster. They won’t finalize those decisions until next week. They have until the day of Game 1, Oct. 3 to turn in their roster. Factors that go into those decisions center on players’ health, the number of pitchers they want to carry, and who they’re playing, Gonzalez said.
“We’re still working through it,” he said.
Hale start: Looking at pitching matchups for the Phillies series is a little misleading when it comes to Braves rookie right-hander David Hale. Next to the Hale's name are these numbers: 0-0, 0.00 ERA.
But Hale earned those numbers, by pitching five shutout innings in his major league debut Sept. 13 against the Padres. The Marietta native struck out nine, walked one and took a no-decision only because the Padres rallied for a 4-3 win.
Hale set a pretty high standard to try to match when he makes his second spot start Thursday against the Phillies, which allows the Braves to set up their rotation for the postseason. But Hale said he’s looking simply to make a quality start and give the Braves a chance to win. And he goes in without as many first-game jitters.
“That got a lot of the nerves out, I think,” said Hale, who joked after the game that he was happy he didn’t throw up or trip. “I’m always nervous when I play. Even in the minor leagues I get nervous before my starts, but once you’re out there, it relaxes.
When asked what he learned from that first start, the Princeton graduate and 2009 third-round pick said: “That I can compete here, that I have what it takes.”
Hale, a Walker School graduate, estimates he had 300 friends and family in the stands at Turner Field.
“There’s always that question in the minor leagues when you’re coming up, ‘Can I do it, can I do it?’” Hale said. “And to have a good showing in front of all the people that were here — my family and friends — and then also for me to know that I could do it, that was big.”
Hale also gave the Braves plenty to think about heading into next season, which is a big reason why they called him up in September and gave him this chance.
“We feel like he’s a big part of this organization,” Gonzalez said. “He has gotten better every year. (You) put him in there. You feel comfortable. It’s not an audition, but it’s ‘OK, here you are pitching on a big stage.’ As coaches we remember what you did the last time.”
Tommy John watch: Jonny Venters and Eric O'Flaherty started playing light catch — tossing from 30 feet for the first time Tuesday — as they took the next step in their returns from Tommy John surgery. Venters and O'Flaherty had season-ending operations six days apart in May and are on the same throwing program.
O’Flaherty is eligible for free agency, but Venters is under Braves control as a second-year arbitration eligible player. Venters said he doesn’t expect to throw off a mound until January or February. He anticipates returning some time after the one-year anniversary of his May 16 surgery, given that it’s his second such surgery. But the first step was pain-free.
“It felt good,” Venters said. “It was really, really light … but I was probably having pain with that short distance before I had surgery.”
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