Tyler Pastornicky optioned to minor leagues

The Atlanta Braves have seen their roster move into a period of flux in recent days, and that continued late on Friday evening, as the team elected to option utility infielder Tyler Pastornicky to triple-A Gwinnett following Atlanta’s loss to the San Diego Padres.

As noted by both David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Joe Morgan of MLB.com, the Braves have elected to wait until Saturday to announce a corresponding move to replace Pastornicky on the active, 25-man roster. The 24-year-old infielder has never excelled at the plate at the Major League level, but the 2014 season has been especially unkind to Pastornicky.

In 46 plate appearances (and 27 games), Pastornicky is hitting .205/.311/.256 with no home runs or stolen bases, and with his glove playing as a minus at the shortstop position, his future as a big leaguer is probably in question. 25-year-old infielder Phil Gosselin would seemingly be the logical candidate to replace Pastornicky on the roster, but the Braves had Gosselin promoted during Dan Uggla‘s one-game suspension, and bringing him back now would qualify as an interesting roster decision given the entire circumstance.

Still, the Tyler Pastornicky experience will now be on hold in Atlanta for the time being.