Braves demote Schafer, go back to Blanco - MLB

How often do you see a team send down a player who has started 98
percent of its games? Jordan Schafer was Atlanta’s starting center
fielder 49 times in 50 games this season. He even played 5 ½ innings in
the one game he didn’t start. He had received 195 of the 200 plate
appearances to go to Braves center fielders this season.

Of course, Schafer had struggled mightily since homering in his
first major league at-bat. Since starting off 8-for-19 with both of his
homers, he had hit .176/.289/.216 with 59 strikeouts in 148 at-bats. He
had walked 24 times, so he was at least occasionally helping to turn
the order around as a No. 8 hitter. However, he had knocked in just
five runs.

If Gregor Blanco had been hitting at all in the minors, this switch
likely would have been made three weeks ago. However, it took a recent
six-game surge just to get him up to .242/.335/.300 for the season.
That Schafer is the better center fielder of the two only made the move
more difficult. Still, the Braves likely are doing the right thing for
Schafer in sending him down. They were going to have baseball’s worst
offensive outfielder with or without him.

PITTSBURGH — The New York Mets will have to dig out of an early-season hole without star first baseman Pete Alonso.

The leading home run hitter in the majors will miss three-to-four weeks with a bone bruise and a sprain in his left wrist.

The Mets placed Alonso on the 10-day injured list Friday, retroactive to June 8. Alonso was hit in the wrist by a 96 mph fastball from Charlie Morton in the first inning of a 7-5 loss to Atlanta on Wednesday.

Alonso traveled to New York for testing on Thursday. X-rays revealed no broken bones, but the Mets will be missing one of the premier power hitters in the game as they try to work their way back into contention in the NL East.

“We got better news than it could have been,” New York manager Buck Showalter said. “So we take that as a positive. It could have been worse.”

New York had lost six straight heading into a three-game series at Pittsburgh that began Friday. Mark Canha started at first for the Mets in the opener. Mark Vientos could also be an option, though Showalter said the coaching staff may have to use its “imagination” in thinking of ways to get by without Alonso.

“I’m not going to say someone has to step up and all that stuff,” Showalter said. “You’ve just got to be who you are.”

Even with Alonso in the lineup, the Mets have struggled to score consistently. New York is 16th in the majors in runs scored.

The team also said Friday that reliever Edwin Uceta had surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee. Uceta initially went on the IL in April with what the team called a sprained left ankle. He is expected to be out for at least an additional eight weeks.

New York recalled infielder Luis Guillorme and left-handed reliever Zach Muckenhirn from Triple-A Syracuse. The Mets sent catcher Tomás Nido to Triple-A and designated reliever Stephen Nogosek for assignment.

Nogosek is 0-1 with a 5.63 ERA in 13 games this season.