The Braves promoted veteran utility man Emilio Bonifacio from Triple-A Gwinnett on Tuesday, and interim manager Brian Snitker immediately put him in the lineup at left field to replace injured rookie Mallex Smith.
Snitker said Bonifacio would be part of a platoon in left that also includes Jeff Francoeur, Jace Peterson and Chase d’Arnaud.
“We will probably just spread it around,” Snitker said. “We’ve got a lot of options. We are just looking at matchups on a day-to-day basis and see where we are at. Those guys being able to move around to a lot of positions really helps.”
Smith was placed on the disabled list with a fractured left thumb and is expected to miss eight to 10 weeks. Smith had played left field regularly since Snitker took over as manager while getting days off against most let-handed starters.
Bonifacio played in 769 big-league games from 2007 to 2015, including 41 with the Braves in 2014. For his career entering Tuesday he’d hit .259 with a .316 on-base percentage while fielding every position except for first base.
Bonifacio went to spring training with the Braves but was designated for assignment before opening day. He played in the outfield for 54 of 56 starts at Gwinnett and hit .270 with a .321 on-base percentage.
