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Tim Hudson received a cortisone shot on Friday after experiencing discomfort caused by bone spurs in his left ankle during a bullpen session earlier in the day.

Julio Teheran will get the spot start in his place on Sunday in the series finale against the Toronto Blue Jays, as reported by David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

#Braves will skip Hudson tomorrow, minor ankle problem. Calling up Teheran for spot start. Hope Hudson can come back Wed vs Yankees

— David O’Brien (@ajcbraves) June 9, 2012

Teheran experienced command issues during his brief call-up at the end of last season, then again while competing for a spot in the rotation during spring training.

Those issues have yet to subside this season at Triple-A Gwinnett, where he has walked 21 batters and allowed eight home runs in 54.1 innings.

His last four starts have also been inconsistent, backing up good starts with bad.

On May 17, he lasted only 2.2 innings, allowing four runs on seven hits while walking five and striking out two. He followed that up with seven innings of one-run ball on four hits in a May 22 start.

He then only lasted three innings in his next start on May 28, giving up six runs (four earned) on seven hits.

Teheran followed up that rough start with possibly his best outing this season on June 3, striking out six while issuing no walks and only one run in a complete game.

Even with those struggles, Teheran has managed a 5-2 record with a 3.15 ERA in 11 starts.

With the Braves targeting a return to the mound for Hudson on Wednesday against the New York Yankees, Teheran’s time in the majors will be limited to his Sunday start.

ESPN.com reported that backup catcher J.C. Boscan would be sent to Gwinnett to open up the roster spot for Teheran and that a reliever would be added once Teheran is sent back down.

Wondering why Jair Jurrjens isn’t getting the call to start Sunday’s game?

He has allowed 61 hits with a 5.26 ERA in 49.2 innings since being demoted to Triple-A after only four starts in Atlanta.

Jim Pratt is Founder/Writer for Big Leagues Monthly | The Magazine and is also a Featured Columnist here at Bleacher Report. Follow him on twitter @BigLeaguesMthly.

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Mark Bowman of MLB.com has confirmed what the Atlanta Braves faithful have been hoping for recently when he reported Kris Medlen has been optioned to Triple-A Gwinnett to prepare for starting duties.

He will likely need two or three starts in order to get stretched out for the rotation.

#Braves Blog Updated: Medlen has been optioned to Gwinnett to prepare to be a starter markbowman.mlblogs.com/2012/05/29/sim…

— Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) May 29, 2012

Medlen hasn’t started a big league game since 2010, spending all but 2.1 innings last year recovering from elbow reconstruction surgery.

He has been inconsistent at best in the bullpen this season, posting a 3.49 ERA and 17 strikeouts in 28.1 innings of work, albeit using primarily his fastball.

It seems Mike Minor would be the obvious choice to be sent down when Medlen is ready, but that is unconfirmed at the moment.

With Atlanta having an off-day on Thursday, it will be interesting to see if Minor gets skipped in the rotation. If that happens, look for Minor to be sent down instead of rookie Randall Delgado, who is the other possible option.

Minor has posted a 9.94 ERA in his last six starts, allowing 12 home runs and 43 hits in 31.2 innings during that span.

Atlanta might have been tempted to turn to Jair Jurrjens until he recently gave up 16 runs in two starts, although his outing Sunday was another step in the right direction.

The highly touted Julio Teheran has been solid thus far in Triple-A posting a 3.57 ERA in 10 starts, but his command issues have yet to subside as he has walked 21 batters in 45.1 innings.

In almost a side note, Bowman also mentioned that shortstop Andrelton Simmons might not be long for Turner Field.

Simmons is currently hitting .299/.380/.431 with 14 extra base hits and 10 stolen bases for Double-A Mississippi.

Atlanta might prefer to get Simmons’ Gold Glove caliber defense on the field if they are going to basically take a mulligan in the eighth spot in the batting order, especially with Tyler Pastornicky being limited defensively.

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On a night that saw Bryce Harper and Stephen Strasburg run onto the same major league field for the first time, it was Matt Kemp that once again put his stamp on the moniker of  “best player in the game.”

Strasburg was his normal dominant self over the course of seven innings, giving up a lone run while striking out nine Dodgers and walking none.

Harper, who earlier doubled during what was his MLB debut, hit a go-ahead sacrifice fly in the top of the ninth inning to put the Washington Nationals up 3-2.

After adding another run to make it 4-2, the Strasburg/Harper hype machine was warming up in the visitors’ locker room until the Dodgers opened the ninth inning with three consecutive hits, eventually tying the game when a wild pitch plated Dee Gordon.

Leading off the bottom of the 10th inning, Kemp promptly deposited the game-winning home run 420 feet over the center-field wall.

As he rounded the bases to the sound of Dodger Stadium chanting “MVP…MVP…MVP,” Kemp threw his helmet towards the sky in celebration before being mobbed at home plate by his teammates.

That home run not only sealed the fate of the Nationals on Saturday night, but it was also the continuation of Kemp staking claim to what is arguably one of the best starts to a season in MLB history.

Kemp is only one of three players to have ever hit .400 with 10-plus HR and 25-plus RBI in the month of April.

• 1970 Tony Perez (CIN): .455/10 HR/26 RBI
• 1997 Larry Walker (COL): .456/11 HR/29 RBI
• 2012 Matt Kemp (LAD): .417/12 HR/25 RBI

To begin this discussion, let’s work solely with those three historic April performances.

Extending Walker’s 1997 numbers further, he also produced more extra-base hits (18) and runs (29) than either Kemp or Perez. Based on the numbers, it would appear Walker had the best start to the season of this group.

Attempting to be some kind of voice of reason, we are eliminating Walker from the discussion based on the fact he played 11 of his first 23 games in hitter friendly Coors Field, also pre-humidor.

Left with a Perez vs. Kemp debate and including the runs and extra-base hit totals to the mix, Kemp clearly gets the edge, as his 16 extra-base hits and 24 runs scored are both more than the total Perez (12 XBH, 21 runs) accumulated in 1970.

Others could argue Perez’s higher on-base plus slugging (OPS) of 1.428 compared to Kemp’s 1.383 is more impressive than Kemp’s edge in the counting numbers.

The “greatest month of April” discussion begins and ends with the 2004 version of Barry Bonds.

He amassed what amounts to historic numbers to begin a season, hitting .472 with an OPS of 1.828.

Even though Bonds’ counting numbers of 10 home runs, 15 extra-base hits, 22 RBI and 21 runs are all slightly less than Kemp’s 2012 totals, it has to be taken in consideration that Bonds put up his totals while being intentionally walked an incredible 18 times.

Unfortunately, if Walker playing his home games in Coors Field is cause for elimination from this discussion, so has to be Bonds’ admittance of having taken steroids, albeit “unintentionally.”

All that circles us back around to the Perez vs. Kemp debate.

Personally speaking, my vote goes to Kemp. Maybe that’s because I was unable to watch Perez play on a daily basis, or maybe it’s because I perceive the pre-humidor days of Coors Field and the Bonds steroid scandal to hold too much negative weight.

Regardless of which April each of us thinks is the best—including the performances of Walker and Bonds—what we as baseball fans have witnessed over the past month has to be considered among the greatest starts to a season in major league history.

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Despite Atlanta Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez’s statement upon the arrival of pitchers and catchers that the final spot in the rotation was wide open, Mike Minor had to be considered the incumbent fifth starter entering spring camp.

It appears that his grasp on the final rotation spot has become even more secure after his initial few Spring Training appearances.

Including his most recent start on Tuesday, Minor has thrown nine innings of scoreless baseball.

He has struck out seven batters and even though he has walked four, his command was better on Tuesday, allowing only one batter to reach base via a free pass.

With that last spot in the rotation virtually Minor’s to lose at this point, how will that affect the remainder of the pitching staff?

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As the 2011 Major League Baseball trade deadline approached, the Atlanta Braves front office watched as the rival Philadelphia Phillies dealt for outfielder Hunter Pence and chief wild card competitor, the San Francisco Giants, acquired veteran Carlos Beltran.  

General Manger Fran Wren patiently waited, knowing the best fit for his Braves wasn’t a corner outfielder.

Wren tells Sirius/XM sports radio he wanted a premium center fielder that was a true leadoff hitter at the plate.

Enter Michael Bourn.

Given a full season, Bourn will attempt to fuel what was at times an anemic offense during 2011. Atlanta finished in the bottom half of the National League in nearly every major category, including runs (10th), RBI (10th), AVG (13th), SB (14th) and Team WAR (13th).

Bourn’s top priority as a leadoff hitter is to get on base so he can provide run scoring opportunities for middle of the order hitters like Chipper Jones, Brian McCann, Dan Uggla and hopefully, Jason Heyward.

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