UPDATE: Fredi Gonzalez to be named Braves manager Thursday - MLB

UPDATE: It’s done. According to David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Braves will name Fredi Gonzalez as their next manager on Thursday.

6:00 PM: There has been almost zero speculation about who will be the next Braves’ manager. Why? Because everyone agrees that it will almost certainly be former Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez. Indeed, the fact that none of the Braves writers are even playing the “who are the potential candidates” games to fill column inches leads me to believe that everyone knows it’s a done deal already but that the team has been holding off until the Braves season is over and Bobby Cox got his formal good-bye. Braves writers are pretty good at keeping an information embargo.

Well, the season is over now, so all bets are off. That has David O’Brein of the AJC is saying that Gonzalez will be named the Braves’ next manager right around the World
Series, either right before or right afterward.

It’s probably the best choice under the circumstances. Not that Gonzalez is the best managerial candidate full stop. Just that, given where the team is right now — competitive, loaded with players who are Cox’s guys — it was inevitable that the team would pick one of the many Cox proteges around the league.

Gonzalez was Bobby Cox’s third base coach for several years and Cox is quite fond of him. He’s available. When you add in the fact that unlike, say, Terry Pendelton or some others, Gonzalez has big league experience, the choice is pretty obvious.

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.