Braves Place Reed Johnson On The DL, Call Up Todd Cunningham
By Eric Graff
This is NOT what put Reed Johnson on the DL
Last night after their big comeback victory over Colorado, the Braves placed Reed Johnson on the 15-Day DL with tendonitis in his left achilles. Johnson pulled up after hustling down the 1st base line on a grounder in Sunday’s game against the Cardinals. It’s a shame because Reed has been playing rather well lately and is probably our top pinch hitter at the moment. His 2013 slash is .263/.328/.368/.696, but is hitting .355(11/31) with a homer and 5 RBI as a pinch hitter. It’s not considered to be too serious, just needs rest and with the Braves having such a large lead in the division they can afford to give it to him. This leaves Justin Upton as the only one of the Braves top 5 outfielders that hasn’t seen the DL this season.
To replace Johnson, the Braves have called up 24-year-old outfielder Todd Cunningham from AAA Gwinnett. Cunningham was a 2nd round pick of the Braves in 2010 and has moved up the farm system ever since. This is Cunningham’s first call up to the show. He is a switch-hitting speedster that has little power. His slash line in Gwinnett in 99 games this season is .279/.357/.352/.709 with 18 steals, but only 18 of his 100 hits have gone for extra bases. I doubt he will see much playing time, but could be used a little as a defensive replacement/pinch runner with so many outfielders hurt right now. Either way, he is a much better option than Jose Constanza in any and all situations. Good luck Todd!