The Atlanta Braves are hoping to have starting pitcher Brandon Beachy return by mid-June. Beachy threw his final live batting practice session on Thursday.
On Sunday Beachy will throw a bullpen session and then the right hander will begin a rehab assignment on Wednesday or Thursday.
Beachy, 26, has been working his way back from Tommy John surgery and has not had any setbacks thus far. Prior to his injury last season Beachy had made 13 starts and posted a 5-5 record and a 2.00 ERA. His return could be bad news for Julio Teheran who is 1-0 with a 5.08 ERA on the year. In Teheran’s last two outings he has a 2.19 ERA.
The news on reliever Jonny Venters is drastically different. Venters experienced soreness in his left elbow during his bullpen session before cutting it short. He was scheduled to throw around 20 pitches but had to shut things down. The left hander may be facing season ending surgery after a plasma injection did not work.
One final Braves note comes from David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal Constitution who says that outfielder Jason Heyward will be activated on Monday before the start of a series against Arizona.
Heyward played in his first rehab game with Triple-A Gwinnett on Thursday and will remain there over the weekend. All signs point to his return to the starting lineup which had seen catcher Evan Gattis move to the outfield to make room for the recently activated Brian McCann.
