The Braves activated reliever Jason Motte from the disabled list Friday, as expected and placed struggling left-hander Ian Krol on the DL with a strained oblique in his left side.
Motte had a 3.76 ERA and 1.14 ERA in 31 appearances before going on the 10-day DL after he strained his back throwing a warmup pitch before an aborted appearance July 9. That was the last game before the All-Star break.
Six of the 11 earned runs he allowed came in his last two appearances before the injury. Before giving up those six runs in one inning over consecutive appearances July 4-5 against the Astros, Motte had a 1.78 ERA and .186 opponents’ average through 29 appearances.
He allowed three hits and no earned runs in three innings over three minor league rehab appearances in a five-day span through Wednesday, with no walks and two strikeouts.
Krol has had a disappointing season. He has been particularly ineffective over the past four weeks, posting a 9.00 ERA and .364 opponents’ average in 11 appearances over that span while allowing six hits, 11 runs (10 earned), three homers and five walks in 10 innings, with a 1.042 opponents’ OPS.
For the season, Krol has a 5.75 ERA and 1.52 WHIP, allowing 36 earned runs, 43 hits (including eight homers) and 19 walks with 37 strikeouts in 40 2/3 innings
He’s been hit hard from both sides of the plate: Lefties have batted .290 (20-for-69) with three homers and .805 OPS against him, right-handers .250 (23-for-92) with five homers and a .799 OPS.
And with runners in scoring position he’s allowed a .356 average.
