Atlanta Braves put 3B Adonis Garcia on the disabled list

An already short-manned Braves team will now at least be able to replace one of its 25 members for at least the next 10 days.  More replacements might be welcomed, though.

The Atlanta Braves have opted to assign third baseman Adonis Garcia to the 10 day disabled list.

This is the result of a balky foot that was aggravated on a hustling scoring run Garcia pulled off during Monday’s game with the Blue Jays.  He remained in the game (2 for 4 with 2 RBI and a pair of runs scored), but could not go today.

As the team gets back to Atlanta , the question then becomes this:  who shall replace Garcia in the lineup?

Limited Options

Here is one man’s opinion on the topic:

Well… that’s one possibility.

Complicating matters, Emilio Bonifacio has the flu… and was also unavailable to play today.  Whether that remains the case for tomorrow is unknown at present.

So let’s look at the current bench situation (aside from the pair of catchers):

• Bonifacio.  Hitting .179 in 33 plate appearances.
• Danny Santana.  0 for 14 since joining the Braves.  Also on the Interstate for the year.
• Jace Peterson.  .214 for the year, after 1 for 4 today.

Would this be the right time to note that Chase d’Arnaud is hitting .444 this year?  Maybe not.

Camargo is hitting .307 at Gwinnett in 22 games with 3 homers and a 125 wRC+.  So he could indeed be the choice.

The ‘hot bat’ right now, belongs to Rio Ruiz, though:  MLBPipeline assigned him to their prospects Team of the Week.

Bowman is right – Ruiz is a lefty swinger, though Camargo a RHH (actually a switch-hitter, but the point here is that he’s different from both Ruiz and Peterson).  Ruiz matches up well with Garcia in a platoon situation, but not with Peterson.

The Braves could choose to simply hand the job to either Ruiz or Camargo for the next 10 days and instead keep Peterson in his utility/pinch hitting role.  Either way, that probably amounts to a better offensive option.

Another option would be to bring Lane Adams back for the duration and keep Peterson on third base… but that has the side-effect of making Bonifacio the backup infielder.  Frankly, the less we see of him, the better.  So that’s another vote for either Camargo or Ruiz.

Of course, the even better solution would be to release both Bonifacio and Santana – bringing up Adams, Camargo, and Ruiz to refill the bench.  But don’t hold your breath waiting for that to happen.

Personal preference?  Among the plausible options, I would DFA Santana, then promote both Ruiz and Adams.  The Braves need to know how Ruiz takes to consistent major league action and the team needs bats that have a better chance from the bench.

Next: What's the worst case for the Summer?

But if I were a betting man…. Camargo and nothing more.