The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Mccann on the mend
Catcher’s rib cage sore, but he could be back Monday.
Brian Mccann and the Braves were encouraged Saturday by how much better Mccann’s strained rib-cage muscle felt Saturday and hope to have the All-star catcher back in the lineup as early as Monday.
Mccann, who suffered an intercostal strain Friday night on a throw to second base, said he woke up Saturday morning relieved.
“I’m a little sore up under my rib cage, but it’s just going to be a matter of dealing with a little soreness, which is a lot better than I thought last night,” Mccann said. “… I woke up and knew that it would only be a coupleday thing. I don’t think I can re-injure it doing anything. It’s just a matter of dealing with a little twinge.”
He said after he made the throw to second in the fourth inning, it felt like he had a cramp as he went back into his crouch. He felt it again in the fifth throwing to second base on a pitch-out and came out after batting in the bottom of the inning — something both he and manager Fredi Gonzalez think saved him in the long run.
“I don’t like not being in there, but I learned my lesson last year that you go on the DL with an oblique for 3 ½ weeks to a month, it’s going to take you two months to get back,” Mccann said. “So I was being cautious, and hopefully in a couple days I’ll be ready to go.”
Braves trainers didn’t expect the injury to be as serious as the strained oblique that landed McCann on the disabled list and derailed his 2011 season because it was higher in his rib-cage area. Their predictions were confirmed when Mccann was examined again by the Braves’ medical staff Saturday afternoon.
“It was really, really encouraging today,” Gonzalez said.
Backup catcher David Ross will start, and outfielder Matt Diaz will be the emergency catcher. Diaz might have started in left field Saturday against left-hander Erik Bedard, but Gonzalez didn’t want to take chances. Beyond Diaz, Gonzalez said McCann could catch in a dire emergency.
Diaz last caught in a game in the instructional league in 2005 when the Kansas City Royals were trying to convert him to catcher. A few months later, he was traded to the Braves.
“First thing I asked Frank Wren, who was assistant GM at the time, was, ‘You trading for me as a catcher or an outfielder?’” Diaz said. “‘No, we’re happy with our catching. We have a young guy named Brian Mccann.’ ”
Tim Hudson is set to make his return from spinal-fusion surgery today against the Pirates, right on schedule.
He has aimed all along for late April or early May and got there by throwing four pain-free minor league rehabilitation starts. He’s looking forward to pitching a season without back pain for the first time in a few years.
“It’s going to be fun waking up the day after I pitch and not feel like Fred Sanford,” Hudson said.
Hudson built up to 110 pitches in his final start for Triple-a Gwinnett, but Gonzalez said Hudson will likely go no more than 100 pitches or six innings in his first start coming out of his own “spring training.”
First major league save? Not that big of a deal to Braves reliever Kris Medlen, who earned the honors with three innings to finish off Friday’s 6-1 win over the Pirates. Medlen was presented with the lineup card, which is sitting in the back of his locker, and the ball, which he tossed to a kid in the stands as he left the game.
“It’ll probably mean more to him than me,” Medlen said. “If I was a closer, I think it’d be a big deal. Obviously I’m happy about it, but I expect to do stuff like that when I’m put in situations.”
Now his base hit? That’s another matter for the versatile pitcher and former switch-hitting college shortstop. Medlen collected the sixth hit of his major league career in his at-bat in the bottom of the eighth inning. He lobbied to pinch hit again Saturday.
Already short-handed on the bench with Ross catching and trying to protect Diaz as the emergency catcher, Gonzalez said he could see using Medlen to pinch hit in the sixth inning.