Atlanta Braves pitcher Brandon Beachy leaves Spring start after 2 innings
By Brad Rowland
Things are beginning to get comical for the Atlanta Braves pitching staff.
First, last year’s “ace”, Mike Minor, had a urinary tract infection that caused shoulder soreness (before you ask, I have no idea) that could sideline him into the start of the regular season. Then, right-hander Kris Medlen left Sunday’s outing with a “forearm strain” that has forced him into having an MRI on Monday.
Now, another member of the Atlanta staff could be in trouble.
More concern for the Braves: Brandon Beachy’s velocity was down today, and he left after only 2 innings.
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) March 10, 2014
Right-hander Brandon Beachy left Atlanta’s game with Philadelphia after just 2 innings on Monday afternoon, and as Jon Morosi notes above, he had velocity issues before exiting. More troubling than that, though, was that Beachy was scheduled to pitch 4 innings in the game, and the Braves have displayed a pattern of adding an inning to each pitcher’s workload (Beachy went 3 innings in his last outing) every time they take the mound.
Beachy underwent Tommy John surgery in the middle of the 2012 season, and the 28-year-old managed to throw only 30 innings at the end of the 2013 season. With Medlen very much up in the air and Minor late to arrive in Spring, much has been placed at the feet of Beachy, and the Braves will be collectively hoping that this early exit was just a blip on the radar.