The Braves’ release of Dan Uggla on Friday afternoon left an open spot in the 25-man roster for Tyler Pastornicky.
The 24-year old from Bradenton, Fla. can serve as a pinch hitter and infielder and outfielder and has done so in his seven years in the minors.
“He’s a guy that we’ve seen a lot…” Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. “But he’s an offensive guy that can play second base and maybe against a tough left-hander you give Tommy (La Stella) a day off and run him in there.”
“We wanted to optimize our roster,” Braves executive Frank Wren said of the decision to release Uggla and bring up Pastornicky. “I don’t think it has been a big problem to this point but I think as we go into the second half…and I guess in some regards a fresh start and we wanted to give him more options.”
Pastornicky started April with the Braves and played in 22 games through the end of May. In that time he logged 35 at-bats, three runs and seven hits for the Braves.
“He’s a nice player to have off the bench in the National League,” Gonzalez said.
Pastornicky was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the fifth round of the 2008 draft. In 2010 he was traded to the Braves and in September 2011 he was called up the majors, though he didn’t make his MLB debut until 2012. He’s been up and down between Triple-A Gwinnett Braves and the majors since 2011.
