The Braves entered this weekend’s series against the Cardinals with one fewer hitter on the bench and one more pitcher in the bullpen.
The Braves placed outfielder Matt Joyce on baseball’s bereavement/medical emergency list Friday after the death of his uncle. Joyce will miss this three-game series and rejoin the Braves for the start of a homestand Tuesday.
The Braves temporarily filled Joyce’s spot on the roster by promoting pitcher Kyle Wright from Triple-A Gwinnett to provide added bullpen depth after a taxing 13-inning win in San Francisco on Thursday.
In that game, the Braves used five relievers. Touki Toussaint threw 32 pitches over 2-1/3 innings, Luke Jackson 36 pitches over two innings, Jacob Webb and Sean Newcomb 20 pitches apiece and Jerry Blevins 15 pitches.
“We’ve got a few guys down (not available) today with the extra innings and just the workload,” manager Brian Snitker said before Friday’s game. “So at least we have somebody (in Wright) who can go out there for three-four innings if need be.”
The moves left the Braves, for the time being, with 14 pitchers -- nine relievers and five starters -- and 11 position players on the active roster.
Wright joined the big-league roster for his third stint this season. He opened the season in Atlanta’s starting rotation, going 0-2 with a 7.07 ERA (11 earned runs allowed in 14 innings) over three starts.
If not for Thursday’s extra-inning game, Snitker said the Braves “probably” would have replaced Joyce on the roster with a position player rather than a pitcher.
As is, the Braves entered Friday’s game with only three position players on their bench: infielder-outfielders Johan Camargo and Charlie Culberson and catcher Tyler Flowers.
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