We’re just under an hour away from first pitch at Truist Park and there’s going to be a bit of a new look both on the mound and out in the field for the third game of this series between the Atlanta Braves and the St. Louis Cardinals. Hurston Waldrep is set to make his first start of the season and Jim Jarvis is in the lineup and starting at shortstop for Atlanta.
Walt Weiss spoke with the media ahead of tonight’s contest and as you can imagine, those two aforementioned players were certainly the topic
of conversation and people of interest in the run-up to Thursday night’s game.
On Hurston Waldrep ahead of tonight’s start
Walt Weiss told the media that he’s expecting something like 70-to-around-80-or-so pitches from Waldrep tonight. He described his expectations as “hopefully similar to what we got last night from [Reynaldo López].” López threw 69 pitches and tossed five innings with the Cardinals scoring their lone run of the night in the first inning. Anything similar to that would be greatly appreciated and Weiss said that he’s really “looking forward to it. [Waldrep] was dominant at times last year…it’s good to have him back in the mix here.
On having Jim Jarvis back in the lineup
“A baseball-y player, to use a common term,” is how Walt Weiss described having Jim Jarvis in the fold. “He’s got a good bat. He’s a little different from all the other players in the lineup to where he wants to go deep into counts and draw walks.”
Weiss continued to discuss how he was looking forward to utilizing his starting shortstop for the rubber match against the Cardinals by going into his versatility. “He can hit too,” continued Weiss. He’s having a nice year at Triple-A. He defends well and he’s got a good arm. He runs pretty well. It’s nice having another left-handed bat against a tough righty like [Cardinals starter] Dustin May. It’s nice to have that option as a left-handed option. The shortstop thing will be day-to-day but he’s nice to have.”
When asked about whether or not Jim Jarvis could be deployed in a platoon-type situation, Walt Weiss mentioned that it’s possible but was ultimately non-committal and preferred to keep his options open in that regard. “I’ll look into the numbers and go from there but other than that, he can play other spots in the infield and spell some other guys against right-handers. It gives us a bit more flexibility,” answered Weiss.
On long-relief options
“I think we’re covered,” said Weiss when he was asked about the multi-inning relief options out of the bullpen ahead of Thursday’s game against the Cardinals. “[Ian] Hamitlon and [James] Karinchak have both gone multiple innings in Triple-A, so they’re capable of doing that. I think we’re covered, yeah.”
On Sean Murphy’s status
It’s been around eight weeks now for the Braves when it comes to haing Sean Murphy on the shelf. Friend of the site Grant McAuley asked Weiss about whether or not Murphy was getting close to a rehab stint and Weiss seemed to indicate that any rehab stint wouldn’t exactly be imminent at the moment.
“I’m not exactly sure when he’s going out on rehab,” said Weiss. “I don’t want to speculate. He’s starting to progress and do some baseball things but I’m not sure exactly when that rehab clock will start.”
