LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – A late scratch before Friday’s split-squad game against the Phillies resulted in Dian Toscano getting a start for the Braves in right field. Brought over from minor-league camp as an extra for the game, he ended up starting.
He went 1-for-4 with a first-inning RBI single and two strikeouts in the Braves’ 9-2 loss.
Toscano, who turned 27 on Wednesday, is the Cuban defector who signed a four-year, $6 million free-agent contract with the Braves in December 2014. He had to sit out the entire 2015 season because of governmental red tape before finally being cleared in November to begin playing.
He hit just .171 (7-for-41) with one double, two walks, 12 strikeouts and a .404 OPS in 11 games in the Puerto Rican winter league, and Toscano was dropped from the Braves’ 40-man roster in December to open a roster spot when the Braves signed catcher Tyler Flowers.
Toscano didn’t receive an invitation to major league spring training. The Braves bring over some extra players from minor league camp as backups for spring-training games, and that number increases for split-squad games.
Coincidentally, Toscano moved into the lineup Friday after Flowers was scratched. Flowers, who had missed the previous five games with a strained hamstring, had been in the original lineup as designated hitter Friday. When he was scratched, Nick Markakis moved from right field to DH and Toscano to right field.
Toscano is on the Triple-A Gwinnett roster, and his manager for Friday’s split-squad game was Gwinnett manager Brian Snitker. Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez managed the other split squad in Fridayy’s game against the Cardinals in Jupiter, Fla.
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