Eddie Perez is a master at throwing his voice.
The Braves bullpen coach likes to prank unsuspecting bystanders before road games, spying on their credentials and calling them out by their first names.
The victims frantically search the ballpark to find out who’s looking for them, only to discover it was the guy in the Braves uniform standing on the dugout steps only a few feet away.
The Braves players are all in on the joke and spend much of their pregame stretching time enjoying the show.
“He has done it around 200 times,” manager Fredi Gonzalez marveled.
For their next trick, the Braves will try to up the ante, reviving themselves before a disbelieving public after being declared DOA back in spring training.
Funny thing is, they just may pull it off.
The Braves have the third-youngest roster in baseball at 27.2 years, older than only the Astros (26.9) and Marlins (27.1), two teams in rebuilding mode.
By winning 96 games last year, the Braves proved that having a young team and contending for a championship aren’t mutually exclusive, despite what some would have you believe.
While they lost to the Dodgers in the NL Division Series last October, they were looking forward to another strong season before disaster struck in the spring with the loss of three young starters.
Kris Medlen and Brandon Beachy suffered season-ending elbow injuries — necessitating their second Tommy John surgeries — while Mike Minor was sidelined with shoulder tendinitis.
The Braves were counting so much on their young pitchers they let veterans Tim Hudson and Paul Maholm leave as free agents in the offseason.
Hudson wound up going to the Giants, while Maholm, who wanted to stay, signed with the Dodgers.
“With how many young guys they have, it was kind of set in stone,” Maholm said. “When the season ended, they wanted (Hudson) back, and obviously (he) left. They have some good young guys, and they expect them to produce.”
The loss of three starters in spring training was a blow from which few teams could recover. But general manager Frank Wren audibled, signing free agent Ervin Santana to a one-year, $14.1 million deal the first week of March. Santana had turned down a $14.1 million qualifying offer from the Royals but was left unsigned because the crazy draft pick compensation rules scared teams off.
The Braves wound up giving up the 26th pick of the 2014 draft, and they also went above their $100 million budget, landing at about $111 million, according to Associated Press payroll numbers.
Santana, who reported to camp late, still is building his arm strength at Triple-A Gwinnett. He struggled Friday night against Durham, allowing six runs on eight hits and four walks over 51/3 innings.
Nevertheless, the Braves hope to bring Santana up this week, perhaps as soon as Wednesday at Turner Field. Former White Sox starter Gavin Floyd tentatively is scheduled to return from a minor league rehab stint in early May, shortly after Minor’s expected return.
The Braves have adjusted, as they always seem to do. Wren added journeyman Aaron Harang on March 24 after the Indians let him go, a move that reeked of desperation. But Harang took a no-hitter into the seventh inning of his first start Wednesday at Milwaukee and wound up with 62/3 shutout innings in a Braves victory.
Meanwhile, Princeton grad David Hale, who started two games last year, threw five shutout innings Friday in a 2-1 triumph over the Nationals, a game the Braves won despite striking out 14 times.
Article source: http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/ct-braves-sullivan-baseball-spt-0406-20140406,0,2091343.story