Floyd taking latest elbow injury in stride

ATLANTA -- Gavin Floyd expects to wait at least a month before getting a better understanding of whether he might at least have an opportunity to pitch again next year. In the meantime, the veteran right-hander is looking forward to spending some time with his Braves teammates.

Floyd arrived at Turner Field before Monday night's game against the Mets. This marked the first time he was back in the Braves' clubhouse since he suffered a season-ending right elbow injury as he attempted to complete an impressive outing against the Nationals on June 19.

Initially, there was reason to wonder if Floyd had damaged his right elbow's ulnar collateral ligament, which had been repaired 13 months earlier via Tommy John surgery. Instead, X-rays showed the veteran pitcher actually fractured the olecranon (the elbow's prominent bone) with his only pitch of the seventh inning.

"I guess the bright spot of this is it's the bone and bones heal," said Floyd, who was pleased to hear that he had not damaged his right elbow's UCL or the flexor tendon, both of which had been surgically repaired on May 7, 2013.

Dr. David Altchek surgically inserted a screw into Floyd's elbow last week. Altchek, who had also performed the Tommy John surgery, will not set a timetable for a potential return until he sees how the bone heals. Floyd is scheduled to meet with the surgeon again on July 24.

"You just have to take it every week and let this thing heal," Floyd said. "Time will allow it to heal. Everybody heals differently."

Floyd's injury certainly highlighted the sometimes cruel nature of sports. He suffered this latest elbow injury in the midst of the most impressive of the nine starts he made after enduring a 12-month rehab process following Tommy John surgery.

Floyd, who produced a 2.65 ERA in those nine starts, will be a free agent at the end of this season. The one-year deal he signed with the Braves in December ended up being worth approximately $4.75 million.

"Anytime you have a full year rehabbing with the ligament and stuff like that and knowing that everything was building up and getting better, it was definitely disappointing and unexpected," Floyd said. "But I'm thankful it had nothing to do with the Tommy John [repairs]."