Odorizzi hopes extra rest will be ‘beneficial’

OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA — In the second inning of his start in St. Louis on Aug. 28, Jake Odorizzi began to experience arm fatigue. He described it as “sluggishness,” but no one could tell at the time that he felt that way because he carried a no-hitter for a few innings while dealing with it.

Eventually, Odorizzi and the Braves needed to be safe.

“It was able to be pitched through, but I think doing it for the rest of the season would have been counterproductive,” Odorizzi said Wednesday in Oakland as he readied for his bullpen session. “You miss one (start), you make the next five instead of just grinding through everything. Being smart about it more than anything else. Nothing major, just sometimes it pops up and some extra days are really beneficial.”

And those days have helped Odorizzi, who said he tentatively is scheduled to start in Seattle. The Braves have a “TBA” listed for Sunday’s series finale, which would appear to be a date to slot in Odorizzi.

Bryce Elder started for Odorizzi on Saturday against the Marlins and pitched six shutout innings. It continued an important trend for the Braves, who have flexed their organizational muscle over the past month.

In August, Kyle Wright (arm fatigue) and Max Fried (concussion) needed extra time. Kyle Muller, Ian Anderson and Elder filled in nicely in Miami. The Braves won all three of the games they started and captured a fourth victory when Elder made another start a few days ago.

In five starts since the Braves acquired him, Odorizzi has a 4.26 ERA. He has allowed three runs over 11⅔ innings in his past two starts.

NL East race

If the Braves win the National League East this season, they will have erased their biggest deficit in the division era (10½ games). The 1993 team was 10 games behind first-place San Francisco in the NL West after play July 22, then won the division by one game with 104 wins. The largest deficit a Braves team has overcome to make the postseason is 15 games in 1914 by the Boston Braves.