PITTSBURGH – The Braves optioned Aaron Blair to Triple-A Gwinnett on Wednesday, a day after he gave up nine hits and nine runs in 1 1/3 innings of a loss to the Pirates in his fifth major league start.
Right-hander John Gant was recalled from Gwinnett and was available out of the bullpen Wednesday night against the Pirates.
“We sent Aaron back, and I told him, it’s not a bad thing,” said Braves interim manager Brian Snitker, who was Blair’s manager at Gwinnett before the rookie was called up last month to begin his first major league stint. “There’s a lot of guys who go back and then when they come back they’re more prepared for what they’re going to be in for. Because I really like him a lot.”
Blair was 0-3 with a 7.59 ERA and .341 opponents’ average in five starts, with 12 walks and eight strikeouts in 21 1/3 innings. In his past three starts he posted a 12.60 ERA and .426 opponents’ average.
Blair gave up seven runs and seven hits in the first inning of Tuesday’s 12-9 loss to the Pirates, and Snitker said his fastball location hasn’t been as sharp as it needs to be for him to have success at the big-league level.
“We knew when I had him in Triple-A, that’s the kind of guy he’s going to have to be,” Snitker said. “When he gets off the mark he’ll probably pay for it. But he’s got all the makeup, work ethic, competitiveness going for him, and he’ll be fine.”
Gant, who made four relief appearances in his first call-up this season, will give the Braves a long-relief option for at least a couple of days. Snitker said it wasn’t decided who would start Sunday in place of Blair in the road-trip finale at Philadelphia.
The obvious candidates for that start are Gant, whose last Triple-A game was a start Saturday, or Casey Kelly, who started Monday for Gwinnett. Prospect Tyrell Jenkins worked six innings in his start Wednesday for Gwinnett, which would presumably rule him out for a Sunday start since he’d be on short rest and hasn’t pitched in the majors.
