Braves face lefty, Uggla still benched
SAN FRANCISCO — Without mentioning Dan Uggla's name Tuesday, Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez made it fairly obvious there were no plans to return the struggling veteran second baseman to the lineup anytime soon.
And that was made even more clear Wednesday when Tyler Pastornicky got the start at second base in the series finale against the Giants and Madison Bumgarner, the first left-handed starter to face the Braves in eight games.
Uggla’s last start was May 6 against Cardinals lefty Tyler Lyons, and he’s had only two pinch-hit appearance since, including a first-pitch pop-out to center field in the seventh inning Wednesday.
Uggla has hit .182 (19-for-104) with two homers and 31 strikeouts, including .171 against right-handers and .250 (4-for-16) against lefties.
Gonzalez Tuesday said he planned to give Pastornicky most of the starts for a while at second base regardless of whether the pitcher was right-handed or left-handed. Pastornicky had two singles Wednesday.
The Braves prefer to keep Ramiro Pena in a utility role, and it’s unclear when Uggla might play again. He is still owed about $23 million for the rest of this season and 2015, and so far there’s been no trade interest in Uggla from any team willing to pick up a signficant portion of his salary.
