ATLANTA — The Atlanta Braves were so eager to get Kelly Johnson back on the active roster that they were willing to ship out the previous night’s hero.
Johnson, who missed 24 games with a right oblique strain, was activated on Wednesday and Joey Terdoslavich was sent to Triple-A Gwinnett. Terdoslavich had connected for his first home run on Tuesday night, which turned out to be the game winner.
“It can be a cruel game sometimes,” Atlanta manager Fredi Gonzalez said. “Kelly is coming off the DL and he’s ready to go. He’s our starter and when he’s healthy, he plays.”
Johnson was batting .259 with six homers and 18 RBIs when he was injured on May 13 after taking a swing. He was placed on the 15-day disabled list. He played two rehab games with Gwinnett, going 1-for-7, and declaring himself ready to return.
It didn’t take Johnson long to make an impact. He had an RBI single in his first at-bat of his return and went 3-for-4.
Johnson will primarily play left field, but can also be used at third base. He will likely see less action at third since the club’s acquisition of Juan Uribe.
“He’ll play a lot more in left field, but we feel we can run him out there at third base when we want to have more left-handed bats in the lineup,” Gonzalez said.
Terdoslavich was told about his demotion prior to Wednesday’s game. He had made the team in spring training, but injured his wrist on a fluke defensive play and missed 53 games. He played in four games with Atlanta, all as a pinch hitter, and was 1-for-4 with a homer.
“I told him to go down to Gwinnett, get 40-50 at-bats and, if he’s doing well, he may be that bad off the bench,” Gonzalez said. “It was a hard conversation to have, but he took it like a professional.”
The team felt that Todd Cunningham is currently a better fit for the reserve outfielder role. He can play all three positions and has better speed.