Dickey pitches through trade talk

LOS ANGELES — R.A. Dickey knows how well the Braves have played for the past 2½ months and especially since mid-June despite a toughening schedule. The veteran knuckleballer hopes they can avoid any potential disruptions and keep it going.

But Dickey also knows that fellow starting pitcher Jaime Garcia and others could be traded at any time before the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline. Garcia, in particularly, seems likely to go since he’s a pending free agent and the Braves already came close to trading him a few days ago to the Twins.

“I don’t know, I keep on pretending that ... Jaime’s been on the trade block for about a week now, three or four days, and I feel like every time (the Braves) win, the trade didn’t go through because they’re pulling him back,” Dickey said. “I understand the business of it. But he’s a big part of what we’re doing here.”

If Garcia is traded before his next scheduled start Wednesday at Arizona, the Braves will have Aaron Blair ready again as an option, after having him throw just one inning Sunday for Triple-A Gwinnett in case he’s needed. They flflew Blair out to Los Angeles before Garcia’s start Friday. Trade discussions were so serious with the Twins that the Braves were ready to start Blair in place of the left-hander.

That deal fell through over reported medical issues with the pitching prospect the Braves were going to get from the Twins. Other teams have since become involved in discussions for Garcia, who pitched seven strong innings and hit a career- fifirst grand slam in Friday’s Braves win that snapped an 11-game Dodgers winning streak.

Kris Medlen, the veteran attempting a comeback with the Braves, has made progress at Gwinnett and could be the most attractive in- house option to fill in long-term for Garcia if the Braves trade him and don’t acquire another starter. Lucas Sims, who like Blair is on the 40-man roster, is another option. He would not be an option for Wednesday since he pitched Saturday (seven scoreless innings of three-hit ball with nine strikeouts in a Gwinnett win) and would be on short rest.

Earlier this season there was speculation Braves might also look trade Dickey before the deadline, but those rumors have faded. His strong performance during the team’s recent run has fueled discussion of the Braves possibly exercising the $8 million option on his contract for 2018 rather than the $500,000 buyout.

Dickey is 5-3 with a 2.94 ERA in his past eight starts. The Braves have won eight of his past 12 starts entering tonight’s series opener Zack Greinke.

Does a 42-year-old knuckleballer on a one-year deal (plus option) worry about being traded? The Nashville native certainly doesn’t want to be traded and would like to stay with the Braves this season and beyond.

“I think there are some challenges that are different from a conventional pitcher,” he said of the issues for another team acquiring a knuckleballer. “You’ve got to have a guy that can catch it, primarily. But outside of that, where’s (the) park located? Would Colorado trade for me? Probably not, because that’s not a good place for a knuckleball.”