After just two games starting in place of second baseman Dan Uggla, who underwent laser eye surgery Friday, Tyler Pastornicky is headed for surgery of his own.
An MRI Thursday revealed Pastornicky suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee when he collided with Jason Heyward in right field Wednesday night against the Phillies. He will undergo season-ending surgery Monday. The team called up Phil Gosselin from Triple-A Gwinnett as a stopgap.
It’s unfortunate timing for Pastornicky, who was getting a chance to play every day at second base during what’s expected to be right at a 15-day DL stint for Uggla. Now the Braves plan to play Paul Janish at second base, with manager Fredi Gonzalez pinch hitting for him late in games as needed.
“It’s tough,” said Pastornicky, 23, who was in his third call-up this season. “It’s definitely frustrating. Stick to the grindstone, have the surgery and keep rehabbing and come back and get ‘em next year.”
Pastornicky is the sixth Braves player lost to a season-ending operation this year, along with Jonny Venters (elbow), Eric O’Flaherty (elbow), Ramiro Pena (shoulder), Cristhian Martinez (shoulder) and Tim Hudson (ankle).
Dr. Marvin Royster will perform Pastornicky’s surgery. He repaired both of Chipper Jones’ ACL tears in 1994 and 2010. Pastornicky said he was told the recovery will be four to six months and he can expect to be back during spring training.
The Braves had hoped it was just a sprain but Pastornicky said he woke in the middle of the night Wednesday and couldn’t get out of bed. He has yet to see replays of the collision with Heyward and doesn’t want to watch it.
Both Pastornicky and Heyward said they were calling for the fly ball off the bat of Jimmy Rollins when Heyward clipped Pastornicky in the lower leg. Pastornicky was able to get up and finish the inning but his knee stiffened up at the end of the inning.
“Freak play,” Pastornicky said. “I think mixed with the crowd, and me saying it, and him saying it and both of us just being locked in on the ball. I had the goal of catching it and he had the goal of catching it and we got there at the same time.”
Pastornicky, 5-foot-11, 190 pounds, is about the same size as Nate McLouth who suffered a concussion after colliding with the 6-foot-5, 240-pound Heyward in Arizona on June 10, 2010.
“He doesn’t lose too many of those match-ups,” Pastornicky said with a smile. “…I talked to him yesterday. He apologized, but it’s just one of those things, just a freak baseball play.”
The Braves brought up Gosselin over Tommy La Stella, who’s had an impressive season in Double-A Mississippi, in part because of Gosselin’s 47 games of experience in Triple-A . Sean Kazmar and Elmer Reyes were also in the conversation, Gonzalez said.
“He’s sound defensively,” Gonzalez said of Gosselin. “He can run, swing the bat a little bit.”
The Braves are continuing to monitor the waiver wire in search of a backup infielder, preferably a left-handed hitter, before Aug. 31.
“I think we’ll look around,” Braves general manager Frank Wren said. “I don’t know that we’ll find the right guy or make a move in that area because we’re going to get guys healthy, and we still have time….
“Danny’s going to be back in the next two weeks, and once he comes back it would be harder and harder to put extra guys on this team. If the right fit happens, we’ll look at it. But short of that, I think we’ll go with what we have.”
Gosselin, 24, was the Braves’ fifth round pick in 2010 out of the University of Virginia. His claim to fame with the Cavaliers was hitting a home run off Stephen Strasburg, Saturday’s starter for the Nationals, in the 2009 NCAA regional against San Diego State.
Gosselin has hit .258 in four minor league seasons. He was hitting .277 (46-for-166) with two home runs and 11 RBIs for Gwinnett after being promoted from Double-A June 23. His first big league promotion came as a surprise, when Gwinnett manager Randy Ready called him at 10:45 a.m. Friday morning.
“At first I asked him if he was serious,” Gosselin said. “It was kind of a shock. It’s starting to sink in now, but it didn’t really sink it at first. It’s a great feeling but it was almost surreal.”
