Ciriaco takes positive attitude to Gwinnett

Pedro Ciriaco might be the least likely Gwinnett Brave to have two walk-off hits in the first week of the Triple-A season.

He had every reason to mope. The 29-year-old utility player was dealt a dagger of a blow, even by baseball’s cruel standards, when manager Fredi Gonzalez told him he had made the major league roster out of spring training, unless “something crazy happened,” only to have to change course a day later when it did, on the eve of opening day.

Gonzalez tried to soften the blow by telling Ciriaco, that Sunday morning, a trade might be in the works that would cost Ciriaco his roster spot, but he wouldn’t know until later in the day. So Ciriaco flew on the Braves charter to Miami, unsure if he’d be introduced with the major league team for the first time or would take a plane to Atlanta.

Shortly after he checked into his hotel room in Miami, Ciriaco got the call from Gonzalez that the Braves had traded Craig Kimbrel to San Diego, and they needed his roster spot for Cameron Maybin.

He went from tears of joy in Gonzalez’s office the day before, to choking them back.

“I said thank you for the opportunity they gave me in the spring to play,” Ciriaco recalled Friday, before Gwinnett played in Charlotte.

He then had to make an equally hard call home to his mother in the Dominican Republic, whom he told the day before he made the team. “She said that’s all right, you’re a good player,” he said.

Ciriaco took that attitude to Gwinnett. Manager Brian Snitker was waiting for his arrival and his reaction, ready to offer encouragement if need be. He didn’t need it.

“He came in smiling and bouncing around,” Snitker said. “(He’s) been fine.”

Ciriaco kept focus at the plate, where he drove in the winning runs with two-out walk-off hits, first in the 11th inning April 10 against Durham and in the 10th inning three days later against Norfolk.

“Wherever I go to play, I’m going to play hard,” said Ciriaco, who was hitting .281 through eight games. “I’m going to play every day like it’s my last day, make an impression. I’m trying to improve myself, so when they think I’m ready to be there, I’ll have some numbers and go there and compete.”

Ciriaco has suffered his share of heartache. In and around his 188 major league games with the Royals, Pirates, Red Sox and Padres, he’s been designated for assignment four times, traded for a player to be named, non-tendered and waived. It hasn’t changed his attitude.