Jair Jurrjens' Career Tracker

Jurrjens states case in no-no bid
Braves manager Cox raves about Curacao native's outing
By Mark Bowman / MLB.com

WINTER HAVEN, Fla. -- Braves manager Bobby Cox was denied the opportunity to enjoy a combined no-hitter. But he still left Chain of Lakes Park on Wednesday feeling good about what he'd seen from his pitchers, namely Jair Jurrjens.

"He's got a great idea of what he's doing on the mound," Cox said of the 22-year-old right-hander who provided Atlanta three perfect innings. "It's amazing at his age and where he's from. They don't play that much baseball over there."

If comparable, baseball would seemingly be more common in Jurrjens' native Curacao than a no-hitter in any game, even those in Spring Training. But Cox came within an out of seeing one during Wednesday's 4-1 win over the Indians.

With two outs in the ninth inning, Braves right-handed reliever Colter Bean surrendered an RBI single to infielder Danny Sandoval. Sandoval's shot off the right-field wall tarnished a day of mastery for Cox's pitching staff, which surrendered just two walks before the ninth inning.

"Almost, almost," Cox said about the near no-hitter. "Even in Spring Training, it would have been great."

After Jurrjens' perfect outing, Jeff Bennett, Jeff Ridgway, Royce Ring, Francisley Bueno and Jairo Cuevas combined to keep the Indians hitless. The only walks surrendered during that span were charged to Bennett, who was making his Grapefruit League debut, and Ring.

Bean, who has been used as an extra arm during the first few weeks of Spring Training, was well aware of the potential no-hitter when he entered in the ninth inning. At the same time, he had memories of a couple occasions during his early Minor League years when he spoiled some combined no-hit bids.

"Of course you would love to have [a no-hitter] happen," Bean said. "It seems to [go] with my history, I'm good at screwing that up."

Even though the no-hit bid was denied, the Braves left feeling even better about their rotation, which could include Jurrjens in one of the final two spots. Not fighting the same nerves that were present during last week's Grapefruit League debut, he threw 28 of his 39 pitches for strikes and registered two strikeouts.

"He had great location of the heater and he had a changeup," Cox said. "I think he threw one bad breaking ball, and it didn't get hit. He's got three great pitches and outstanding maturity on the mound with control."

Cox definitely isn't comparing Jurrjens to Greg Maddux. But at a young age, the right-handed Jurrjens is showing the same kind of command that Maddux and many other top-flight pitchers have.

After his three innings, Jurrjens said he was pleased with the sharpness of his slider and mentioned he was attempting to pitch to contact because he knows the importance of avoiding the high pitch counts that would force him to make earlier exits during the regular season.

"I felt comfortable," Jurrjens said. "I was pitching my game."

Bennett, who entered camp with the hopes of winning a roster spot, issued just the one walk in his scoreless inning. He is still regaining the strength he lost while sick last week.

They almost had it

I'll take a regular season no-hitter personally. Didn't a Tiger throw one last year?

Jurrjens pitches Braves by Bucs
Right-hander comes up big in team debut with two-run effort
By Mark Bowman / MLB.com

ATLANTA -- Jair Jurrjens hasn't been around long enough for Braves fans to know a lot about him. But based on the rousing applause they provided when he exited Wednesday night's game at Turner Field, they like what they've seen so far.

While Jurrjens received a standing ovation at the conclusion of his Atlanta debut, the Braves gained their first win of the season with assistance from a number of contributors. By the time they'd completed this 10-2 victory over the Pirates, they'd seen Chipper Jones turn a pivotal double play, Martin Prado prove to be an effective catalyst and Mark Teixeira enjoy his first home run trot of the season.

"To finally get one where we could breathe easy in the ninth was nice," said Teixeira, whose two-run homer keyed the seven-run eighth that provided plenty of insurance for the Braves, who had dropped one-run decisions in their first two games of the season.

With Kelly Johnson nursing a sore right knee, Prado took advantage of an opportunity to prove he can contribute in the leadoff role. His first-inning leadoff triple provided Jurrjens an early lead that he'd savor and preserve. In his first career start as a Brave, the 22-year-old right-hander worked 5 1/3 innings, allowing two earned runs and seven hits.

"He's 22-years-old, and when he's on the mound, you'd think he was a 10-year veteran," Braves catcher Brian McCann said. "He was phenomenal tonight."

Jurrjens, who was acquired from the Tigers in October, showed great poise while keeping the Pirates scoreless during the first five innings. During the sixth inning, when he surrendered three hits, including a Xavier Nady two-run single, he said that he was putting too much force behind his pitches, instead of just staying in his normal flow.

"[Jurrjens] was sensational," said Braves manager Bobby Cox, who had reason to be proud of his six relievers, who combined to not allow a run.

Jones' first-inning RBI single and third-inning sacrifice fly off Pirates starter Tom Gorzelanny helped set the tone, and his glove allowed his teammates the chance to enjoy their first win together. The veteran third baseman's best defensive play prevented the Pirates from doing further sixth-inning damage.

With runners at the corners and one out, right-handed reliever Jeff Bennett took over for Jurrjens and was given the assignment to protect the one-run lead. Four pitches later, he induced a Jose Bautista broken-bat chopper that took a bad hop into Jones' chest.

Almost simultaneously, Jones gained control of the ball and was hit on the right ankle with a portion of Bautista's broken bat. Still, he was able to fire to Prado, who promptly threw to first base to complete the inning-ending double play.

"Honestly, I never saw the bat," Jones said. "When the bat hit me in the ankle, it was a complete surprise. That's probably a good thing. When that ball came up and hit me in the chest, it kind of took my attention away from anything else flying at me."

Cox called the double play, "the turning point of the game."

Jones found some historical humor in the play. When he injured his hands in May and missed nearly three full weeks last year, the cause was a collision with Bautista, who two months later would go on the disabled list after being unintentionally spiked in the wrist by a sliding Jones.

"We're trying to take each other out," Jones said with a smile. "We've got one more day."

With the double play completed, Jurrjens had a chance to fully enjoy the ovation he received as he walked toward the dugout during the sixth inning.

"The way they received me when I was coming out was really nice," said Jurrjens, who threw 57 of his 88 pitches for strikes.

After Peter Moylan, Royce Ring and Chris Resop combined to keep the Pirates scoreless in the top of the eighth inning, the Braves offense enjoyed the seven-run outburst, which also included a two-run homer by Yunel Escobar.

Just before Escobar connected on his first homer of the season, Prado provided a scare when he collided with Pirates first baseman Adam LaRoche while hustling through the bag on an infield single. He remained on the ground for a few tense moments before it was learned that he'd simply got the wind knocked out of him.

There's a chance Johnson's knee could be healthy enough for him to return to the lineup on Thursday. But as Prado showed during Wednesday's victory, he's quite capable of providing both solid defense at second base and consistency in the leadoff spot.

"I'm so glad he's on this team," Jones said. "He can help this team win a lot of ballgames, whatever his role may be."

Yay Jair! Boo for the Tigers!

I'm happy that he is pitching so good, wish it was still for the Tigers though!

Yay JJ! I love him. This is what the Tigers get for getting rid of him!

I think they will rue the day they traded him!

Woo hoo! JJ!!

Jurrjens and :miller:




Tigers won't rue it Now! But in the long Run! Probably!

Can't ever have enough quality pitchers!

TIGERS BETTER START WINNING SOON!


0-3 Sucks!

beyond sucks! We're NOT the Cubs, for heaven's sake!

Wanna hear something sad? My Cubbie fan friend was making fun of me yesterday

that is sad!!

I know! And all I could do was agree with him, that was even more sad

They all need some lovin' to get them out of their funk.
I'm the first volunteer!

If they keep this up, *I* will need

we all will!

we gotta stick together!

honestly, i dont think it was worth trading jurjjens for rent, i think we could use jurjjens now more than edgar!

gdennis59 wrote:

honestly, i dont think it was worth trading jurjjens for rent, i think we could use jurjjens now more than edgar!

I second that!

SoulRat wrote:

Wanna hear something sad? My Cubbie fan friend was making fun of me yesterday

Today I am avoiding him

mrsrabelo wrote:

gdennis59 wrote:

honestly, i dont think it was worth trading jurjjens for rent, i think we could use jurjjens now more than edgar!

I second that!

Me too!

mrsrabelo wrote:

gdennis59 wrote:

honestly, i dont think it was worth trading jurjjens for rent, i think we could use jurjjens now more than edgar!

I second that!

I third that!

laprimamirala wrote:

mrsrabelo wrote:

gdennis59 wrote:

honestly, i dont think it was worth trading jurjjens for rent, i think we could use jurjjens now more than edgar!

I second that!

I third that!

yes!!! i finally say something that means something!!! i feel important

take your victories as they come, grasshopper!

lol, maybe i should be a spokesperson for something,

NAH!!!!

04/15/2008 9:46 PM ET

Box >

Offense dooms Jurrjens' effort
Silent Braves bats can't overcome early hole in loss to Marlins
By Mark Bowman / MLB.com

MIAMI -- From a physical standpoint, the Braves' pitching staff is undoubtedly ailing. Yet consistently throughout the early portion of this season, this staff's starters have provided efforts that have gone to waste because of the untimely struggles of a highly regarded lineup.

With Mike Hampton out and Tom Glavine's status unknown, Jair Jurrjens finds himself playing a more important role and as he proved on Tuesday night at Dolphin Stadium that he's willing to accept the responsibility. But even after willing himself through a strong six-inning effort, all the 22-year-old rookie right-hander found to show for his efforts was the 4-0 loss the Braves suffered to the Marlins

While he wasn't at his best while limiting the Marlins to two earned runs and four hits in six innings, Jurrjens still managed to overcome some control problems and give himself a chance to win for the second time in three starts. But with his offense managing just five hits in seven innings against an unharmed Scott Olsen, he instead was forced to encounter a second straight hard-luck loss.

Jurrjens got himself in trouble with a fourth-inning, two-out walk to Josh Willingham. Mike Jacobs followed with a double to account for the game's first run. Two innings later, Dan Uggla contributed a leadoff double and then raced home when Braves center fielder Mark Kotsay's bad initial read allowed Willingham to contribute an RBI triple.

Entering Tuesday night, the Braves ranked third in the National League in both runs and batting average. But through the first six games of this current road trip, they hit just .250, while having the benefit of playing at Coors Field and getting to face a less-than-established Nationals pitching staff. Those offensive woes continued through this series opener's first five innings, during which two of the three singles recorded were opposite-field bloop shots directed along the right-field line off Chipper Jones' bat.

When Kelly Johnson and Yunel Escobar began the sixth with consecutive singles off Olsen, it looked like the Braves might be in business. But Jones broke his bat with a fly ball to left, and Mark Teixeira followed with another flyout before Jeff Francoeur's weak grounder ended the inning. The Braves are hitting .212 (10-for-47) with runners in scoring position on this road trip.

Mark Bowman is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Poor Jurrjens, at least our offense would be giving him some run support...

Poor JJ

But its still good because the Marlins won.

I merged all the Jurrjens threads.