Another day, another Atlanta Braves outfielder goes down; this time it's left fielder Martin Prado.
Martin Prado Injury: Staph Infection Sends Braves LF to DL
The Braves today placed LF Martin Prado on the 15-day disabled list with a staph infection in his right calf.
Prado underwent a procedure in Atlanta today performed by Dr. Gary Lourie to clean out the infection...The infection was discovered on Tuesday (6/7) in Florida and he was cleared to play.
Cleared to play, but didn’t play. Not after Tuesday, anyway. Not with those little staph beasties rooting around inside Prado’s calf. But doctors are usually pretty good at rooting out the rooters, and anyway everyone should be happy it was staph rather than flesh-eating fungus. Or this bad boy.
Just to review, the Braves opened this season with Prado in left field, Nate McLouth in center field, and Jason Heyward in right field. At the moment, all three are on the Disabled List. Jordan Schafer's been manning center field in McLouth's absence, with (ideally) first basemen Eric Hinske and Joe Mather pressed into outfield duties. The only other option -- unless someone's called up, anyway -- is 28-year-old rookie Matt Young, whose skills are best utilized as a pinch-runner and defensive replacement.
Basically, the Braves just have to try to hang around until McLouth, Prado and (especially) Heyward are healthy enough to play well. The Braves do have the pitching to compete with the Phillies. But as long as they're relying on triple-A outfielders, they won't have the hitting.
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