When rosters expand tomorrow Atlanta Braves fans will see several new faces, and several old faces. Top hitting prospect first baseman Freddie Freeman will be called up along with pitchers Michael Dunn and Scott Proctor, and 30-year old rookie catcher J.C. Boscan. More on that later.
The Braves optioned pitcher Kenshin Kawakami to Danville. Their season ends tonight, and Kenshin will be called back up tomorrow. Nate McLouth was called up to replace KK on the roster. Troy Glaus will be activated from the disabled list on Thursday. This is a bit of player movement chess that allows the Braves to keep Kawakami continually guessing as to what his future with the organization will be.
We all know about Freeman, or at least you should. He of the .319/.378/.521 line at Gwinnett, and still 13 days away from his 21st birthday. He's the future at first base, and the Braves will give him the requisite cup of coffee that he deserves.
Michael Dunn has been up already this season, and was up last season with the Yankees in September. He's a lefty bullpen pitcher who throws hard but has some control issues. Scott Proctor was signed this off-season coming off of Tommy John surgery. His recovery took a bit longer than anticipated, but he's been really good lately, giving up just one run in his past nine relief appearances.
And then there's J.C. Boscan. He may be a familiar name from just about every spring training for the last five years as the fifth or sixth catcher. This is mostly a reward to Boscan for being such a good organizational player, but J.C. is a good backstop with 14 years of minor league experience. He started out in the Gulf Coast League for the Braves back in 1997 when he was just 17. This could also be a good luck move by the Braves to get yet another Venezuelan on the team. Boscan will join fellow countrymen Martin Prado, Omar Infante, and Alex Gonzalez. It's a good move by the Braves, and I'm sure we'll see some feel-good stories on Boscan.
Missing the September cut for the moment are relievers Craig Kimbrel, Cristhian Martinez, and Stephen Marek. They will likely get the call once the Gwinnett season ends next week.
To make room for Boscan, Freeman, and Proctor (who are currently not on the 40-man roster), Chipper Jones and Kris Medlen will likely be moved to the 60-day disabled list. There is already one open spot as Luis Valdez is currently on the restricted list.