Transaction Analysis: McLouth to the DL

August 17, 2009 at 6:36 pm by Capitol Avenue Club under Atlanta Braves, Injuries, Transaction Analysis

If you haven’t heard, Nate McLouth was placed on the 15-day DL due to the hamstring injury he sustained awhile ago.  He’s eligible to come off of the DL on August 31st and I imagine he will do so on that date.  The Braves elected to bring up Reid Gorecki to serve as the 4th OF in McLouth’s absence.  I imagine Diaz will play right every day, Church center, and ACHE left.  The decision to bring up Gorecki and add another player to the 40-man roster was most undoubtedly influenced by Gorecki’s ability to play center.  He’s probably an offensive and defensive upgrade over Blanco, but a downgrade from Brandon Jones I’d speculate.

A lot of people were vexed that the organization didn’t choose to bring up Jason Heyward.  Look, the Braves know what they’re doing.  They’ll bring up Heyward when he’s ready to contribute.  We don’t know more than the organization, they’ll know when he’s ready.  Obviously they feel he’s not.  There’s not much empirical evidence to suggest they’re wrong.  149 PA’s at AA is hardly the tell tale sign someone is ready.  I’m fully confident the organization will make the correct decision when it comes to Heyward.

In the mean time, Matt Diaz, who has hit .293/.358/.457 this season, will enjoy an every-day role.  Church is probably a better center fielder than McLouth, and McLouth had only hit .260/.344/.417 in his time with the Braves.  I think he’s a better player than that, but I hardly think losing McLouth for a few weeks is the end of the world.

It seems like McLouth never really recovered from the hamstring injury.  Hopefully this down-time gets him fresh, healthy, and primed for a stretch run.

In other news, 2009 Braves 1B Stats: Casey Kotchman – 6 HR in 339 PA’s. Adam LaRoche – 4 HR in 58 PA’s.

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