Chipper Headed to 15-Day DL

When Chipper is down, so are the Braves.

Chipper Jones’ left leg contusion is severe enough that the Atlanta Braves had to place him on the 15-day disabled list tonight after their 7-4 loss to the Washington Nationals at Turner Field in Atlanta. The move is retroactive to Wednesday when Jones pinch hit in a game against the Cincinnati Reds, drawing a walk. That pinch hit appearance was Chipper’s first game action since suffering the injury at Tropicana Field against the Tampa Bay Rays on May 18 in interleague action.

Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez has said that the player called up to take Jones’ spot on the roster will be a catcher, likely Triple-A Gwinnett catcher J.C. Boscan. The Braves are in need of a second catcher right now after backup catcher David Ross (the best backup catcher in the bigs, in my opinion) strained his right groin in the Braves loss tonight (May 25). On top of that Braves starting catcher Brian McCann has missed almost the entire week with the flu, which he was forced to finish the game tonight for Ross while still having.

According to the Atlanta-Journal Constitution: “Jones said the nasty bruise was taking much longer to heal than he originally expected. While Jones has been able to take batting practice, he said he could only run at 25-30 percent of full speed due to soreness in the area ranging from his foot to mid-calf from the bruising.”   

The worst part of all of this is that Jones did pinch hit in Wednesday’s game, meaning that the retroactive date for him to come off of the DL. Had he not made that short appearance, the retroactive date would’ve been May 18, meaning that Chipper could’ve potentially returned sooner to the Braves lineup.

The Braves have proven desperate to have Jones in the lineup this season. With Jones in the lineup the Braves have been the best team in the National League East Division, but with him out of the lineup they have looked like cellar dwellers. This fact alone seems to make Chipper the single most important player in baseball this season to a particular team.

In shortened time this season Chipper is batting .307 with five home runs and 24 RBI. When healthy and in the lineup Jones has put up All Star type numbers, so for the Braves (who are sinking fast) sake they better hope he returns as soon as possible and keeps up his hot pace.

Jones Homers in 2012 Debut, Return to Lineup

I said yesterday on this blog that the Atlanta Braves desperately needed veteran third baseman Chipper Jones to return to the lineup after starting the season off horrible with a four-game losing streak to the New York Mets and the Houston Astros. In my opinion, the Braves needed Chipper’s veteran presence in the lineup to give it a boost.

Well, Chipper Jones returned to the Braves lineup on Tuesday night against the Astros, four days ahead of his predicted return and he certainly boosted things … out of the park and into the win column.

Jones went 2-for-4 in his return with a two-run home run off of Astros starter Kyle Weiland in the third inning. The homer off of Weiland is the 455^th of Jones’ career, which places him 33^rd all time. Jones needs seven more homers to reach ‘roided-up hulk Jose Canseco for 32^nd all time and 10 homers to reach hall of famer Dave Winfield for 31^st all time. Only Mike Schmidt (548) and fellow Braves legend Eddie Matthews (512) have hit more home runs among third basemen in baseball history. 

Jones homers off of Astros' Kyle Weiland in 2012 debut.

Click HERE to see Jones’ shot. The best part of the video is his father’s reaction from the stands, as well as the little moment between the two as Jones heads back to the dugout.

Even though this blog is dedicated to the great Chipper Jones I’d like to take this space to acknowledge Braves rookie shortstop Tyler Pastornicky’s first career home run. Just 454 to go, Tyler, to catch Jones.

Jones’ blast led the Braves to a 6-4 victory over the Astros, for the Braves first win of the season. Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez acknowledged Chipper’s importance in the lineup saying: “The stuff he does, nobody else could do. For me, he won the game for us almost by himself.” (from Braves beat writer Dave O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution Twitter profile) 

Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see the ballgame (as I don’t many Braves games due to living in central Arkansas), but the only thing out of the ordinary for me was the fact that Jones hit sixth in the batting order, three slots down from his usual third spot in the order. I knew coming into the season that Gonzalez planned on moving Jones down in the lineup (and it’s probably best for the team), but it might take some getting used to. 

Atlanta
	AB	R	H	RBI	HR	BB	K	SB	LOB	Season Avg
M. Bourn cf	4	1	1	0	0	1	0	1	3	.158
M. Prado lf	5	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	.250
F. Freeman 1b	5	0	0	1	0	0	3	0	1	.190
B. McCann c	4	1	1	0	0	1	0	0	1	.158
D. Uggla 2b	5	1	2	1	0	0	1	0	3	.167
C. Jones 3b	4	1	2	2	1	0	0	0	1	.500
J. Heyward rf	4	1	1	0	0	0	1	0	1	.200
T. Pastornicky ss	3	1	1	1	1	1	0	0	0	.250
J. Venters p	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
C. Kimbrel p	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
T. Hanson p	2	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	2	.333
J. Francisco ph	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.111
K. Medlen p	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
E. O'Flaherty p	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
E. Hinske ph	1	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	.500
J. Wilson pr-ss	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Totals	38	6	11	6	2	3	6	1	14

Batting 2B - D Uggla (1, K Weiland). HR - C Jones (1, 3rd inning off K Weiland 1 on, 2 Out), T Pastornicky (1, 4th inning off K Weiland 0 on, 0 Out). RBI - F Freeman (1), D Uggla (1), C Jones 2 (2), T Pastornicky (2), E Hinske (1). 2-out RBI - D Uggla, C Jones 2, E Hinske. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - M Bourn 2, M Prado 1, D Uggla 2. Team LOB - 8.

Base Running SB - M Bourn (1, 2nd base off D Carpenter/C Snyder). CS - M Bourn (1, 2nd base by K Weiland/C Snyder).    Fielding DP - 1 (D Uggla-J Wilson-F Freeman).

Houston
	AB	R	H	RBI	HR	BB	K	SB	LOB	Season Avg
J. Schafer cf	5	2	3	0	0	0	1	3	1	.316
J. Altuve 2b	5	0	2	0	0	0	1	0	2	.357
J.D. Martinez lf	5	1	1	0	0	0	3	0	4	.333
C. Lee 1b	3	0	3	2	0	2	0	0	0	.389
B. Bogusevic rf	2	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	4	.118
M. Downs ph	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	.000
W. Lopez p	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
T. Buck ph	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	.429
C. Johnson 3b	5	1	2	1	0	0	2	0	6	.300
C. Snyder c	5	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	5	.111
M. Gonzalez ss	3	0	1	1	0	1	0	0	0	.294
K. Weiland p	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	2	.000
B. Lyon p	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
J. Maxwell ph	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.500
D. Carpenter p	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
B. Bixler rf	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	.200
Totals	38	4	12	4	0	5	12	3	27

Batting 2B - C Johnson (3, T Hanson). RBI - C Lee 2 (6), C Johnson (1), M Gonzalez (1). 2-out RBI - C Lee, C Johnson, M Gonzalez. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - J Martinez 1, C Johnson 3, C Snyder 2, K Weiland 2. GIDP - C Johnson. Team LOB - 12.

Base Running SB - J Schafer 3 (3, 2nd base off T Hanson/B McCann, 2nd base off T Hanson/B McCann, 3rd base off T Hanson/B McCann).

Atlanta
	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR	WHIP	Season ERA
T. Hanson (W, 1-1)	5.0	6	2	2	3	8	0	1.60	2.70
K. Medlen (H, 1)	1.1	3	2	2	0	0	0	1.62	4.15
E. O'Flaherty (H, 1)	0.2	1	0	0	0	1	0	1.20	0.00
J. Venters (H, 1)	1.0	1	0	0	1	3	0	2.50	0.00
C. Kimbrel (S, 1)	1.0	1	0	0	1	0	0	2.00	0.00
Houston
	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR	WHIP	Season ERA
K. Weiland (L, 0-1)	5.0	8	4	4	2	5	2	2.00	7.20
B. Lyon	1.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1.00	4.50
D. Carpenter	1.0	0	1	1	1	1	0	0.50	4.50
W. Lopez	2.0	3	1	1	0	0	0	1.12	3.38

WP - K Weiland, D Carpenter.

IBB - C Lee (by T Hanson).

BALK - K Weiland.

Pitches-strikes - J Venters 21-16; C Kimbrel 10-4; T Hanson 101-59; K Medlen 20-16; E O'Flaherty 8-7; W Lopez 21-15; K Weiland 99-58; B Lyon 14-8; D Carpenter 26-16.

Ground balls-fly balls - J Venters 1-0; C Kimbrel 2-0; T Hanson 5-1; K Medlen 2-2; E O'Flaherty 0-1; W Lopez 6-2; K Weiland 6-4; B Lyon 0-3; D Carpenter 2-1.

Batters faced - J Venters 5; C Kimbrel 4; T Hanson 24; K Medlen 7; E O'Flaherty 3; W Lopez 9; K Weiland 24; B Lyon 3; D Carpenter 5.

Game Details

Umpires: HP--Jerry Meals. 1B--Sam Holbrook. 2B--Paul Emmel. 3B--Gary Darling. Weather: 78 degrees, cloudy. Wind: 9 mph, out to left.