have a day
In what might be politely described as a transitional period for the Atlanta Braves, Freddie Freeman is a comforting constant. One of the few former Mississippi Braves stars still with Atlanta, Freeman enjoyed one of his best days of the season on Wednesday. He went 4-for-4 with a home run and five RBIs, powering the Braves past Minnesota 9-7 in a battle of MLB’s two worst teams. Freeman is batting .280 (slugging .517) with 18 homers and 41 RBIs in his seventh big league campaign, and he plays an excellent first base. Here’s hoping the Braves keep him around during this rebuilding phase (which might take a while). Jeff Francoeur, one of the original M-Braves of 2005, also had a good day against the Twins, going 2-for-5 with his sixth homer. Francoeur, quietly playing very well in his return to Atlanta, has been mentioned in trade rumors, so the happy homecoming may not last much longer. … Former M-Braves are everywhere these days, making their presence felt on a daily basis. On Wednesday: Martin Prado, batting .324 for Miami, went 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run in the surging Marlins win over Philadelphia. … Brian McCann hit his 15th homer for the New York Yankees in a loss to Houston. (Evan Gattis, who didn’t play in that game, has 17 bombs for the Astros.) … Jason Heyward, having a tough first year with the bat in Chicago, went 1-for-3 with a walk in the Cubs’ big win over the White Sox. Tommy LaStella, batting .298 in a utility role for the Cubs, drew a walk as a pinch hitter. … Yunel Escobar, hitting .325, had a hit and Andrelton Simmons (.285) notched a pair in the Los Angeles Angels’ loss to Kansas City. … Christian Bethancourt had a 2-for-4 day with two RBIs for San Diego in a win at Toronto. He is batting .267 with five homers. … Randall Delgado (4.03 ERA) tossed two shutout innings in relief in Arizona’s win against Milwaukee. P.S. Former M-Braves outfielder Jordan Schafer, now a relief pitcher in the L.A. Dodgers’ system, has had mixed results. Overall, the lefty has a 4.58 ERA with 42 strikeouts in 39 1/3 innings. A recent rough patch has jacked his ERA from 1.35 to 3.44 at Double-A Tulsa. He also got some time in Triple-A, but it didn’t go well.