The Braves didn’t want their beleaguered bullpen to be caught short-handed against the Red Sox, so they optioned outfielder Todd Cunningham to Triple-A Gwinnett and replaced him with right-hander Sugar Ray Marimon before Monday’s series opener at Fenway Park.
Marimon was unimpressive in his first major league stint with the Braves this season, posting a 6.14 ERA in four appearances. He returned to a starting role at Gwinnett, where he’s gone 3-2 with a 3.60 ERA in nine games (eight starts).
Cunningham has hit .239 (17-for-71) with four doubles, four RBIs and a .299 OBP and .296 slugging percentage in 26 games for Atlanta this season.
Having the designated hitter in use for the interleague games at an American League park influenced the decision to add a reliever, as did the fact that Monday night’s starter, Williams Perez, pitched an inning of relief in Saturday’s 11-inning win at New York and was being closely monitored to make sure he didn’t overextend himself in the series opener against the Red Sox.
“With the DH the next two days, we needed an arm, we needed a guy in the bullpen to help us out,” Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. “We were even kind of waiting a little bit because of the weather, trying to use the rules in our favor, if they banged (suspended) this game and then (scheduled) a doubleheader, and you can bring an extra guy up.”
If Monday’s game had been suspended by rain, the teams would’ve been permitted to add an extra player for a doubleheader Tuesday. In that scenario, it wouldn’t have been necessary to send down Cunningham to bring up Marimon. But despite steady, light rain through the day and into the night at Boston, the game began as scheduled.
Without Cunningham, the Braves didn’t have a backup center fielder on the bench if anything happened to Cameron Maybin. Presumably Nick Markakis would shift to center and Kelly Johnson could play right field. Markakis last played center as a rookie in 2006, when he started eight games at the position.
