Atlanta Braves promote 2B Tommy La Stella from triple-A Gwinnett
Update: The Braves have optioned Tyler Pastornicky to Gwinnett to make room for La Stella on the active roster.
The contract of INF Tommy La Stella (#7) has been purchased from Triple-A Gwinnett and INF Tyler Pastornicky has been optioned to Gwinnett.
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) May 28, 2014
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The inevitable, and for some a sigh of relief, has become official. Due to the offensive (and the recent yet disturbingly consistent defensive) struggles of Dan Uggla—and quite possibly because of the injury to Andrelton Simmons–the Atlanta Braves have promoted minor league second baseman Tommy La Stella from AAA Gwinnett.
The #Braves have promoted Tommy La Stella to the Majors. A corresponding move has not been announced.
— Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) May 28, 2014
La Stella, who was taken in the eighth round of the 2011 draft, was an early season possibility to make the big league club out of spring training, but lost the 25-man roster spot to more seasoned bench players like Jordan Schafer and Tyler Pastornicky.
La Stella, to this point, has spent all of 2014 in Gwinnett, and through 47 games, he is hitting .293/.384/.359.
While the numbers obviously show La Stella would be an adequate substitute/replacement, let’s not forget one thing: the 25-year-old has never seen regular season Major League pitching before. In addition, many scouts believe that his defense at second base won’t be adequate from the moment that he steps onto the field at this level.
Regardless, Braves fans almost universally agree that the time for change is now (editor’s note: not EVERYONE shares this mindset), and while Uggla isn’t the only problem, it’s one that fans have been eager to address and that is finally here.