The Braves have placed 26-year old righty swinging Brent Clevlen on the 15-day disabled list with a sprained right toe. Clevlen has played in 3 games for the Braves this year and he is 1 for 4 (.250 avg, .750 OPS) with a double and 2 runs scored. The Braves have recalled 26-year old lefty swinging outfielder Gregor Blanco to replace him on the roster. Blanco has played in 39 games in AAA-ball this year and he is 40 of 136 (.294 avg, .767 OPS) with 22 runs scored, 1 homer, 10 RBIs and 8 stolen bases. He has played in 168 games in his career with the Braves and he is 116 of 473 (.245 avg, .659 OPS) with 57 runs scored, 1 homer, 39 RBIs and 15 stolen bases.

The Braves have to make a move for a power hitting LF to help the offense and they can’t afford to wait for the trade deadline in July. I like the idea of offering Melky Cabrera and lefty reliever Jonny Venters to the Orioles for Luke Scott. Scott would give the Braves another big power bat in the middle of the batting order. I think that Cabrera would have a better chance of finding his bat again in the A.L. of which he is more familiar. While I don’t like the idea of giving up Venters you almost never get something for nothing in the major leagues.

30-year old switch hitting Brooks Conrad is really kicking butt for the Braves right now. He hit a pinch hit, walk off grand slam off of Reds’ closer Francisco Cordero in the Braves’ 10-9 win last night. He has played in 26 games for the Braves this year and he is 7 of 28 (.250 avg, 1.022 OPS) with 9 runs scored, 3 homers, 9 RBIs and 1 stolen bases. In his first two years in the majors, Conrad played in 36 games in which he was 14 of 73 (.192 avg, .590 OPS) with 7 runs scored, 2 homers, 10 RBIs and 23 whiffs. The Braves really hope that Conrad keeps hitting as he has really helped them off the bench.

The Braves have placed 32-year old righty swinging outfielder Matt Diaz on the 15-day disabled list with a infected right thumb. Diaz has played in 26 games in which he is 13 of 73 (.178 avg, .477 OPS) with 5 runs scored, 5 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. The Braves have activated shortstop Yunel Escobar off the D.L. to replace Diaz on the active roster. Escobar has played in 22 games so far this season and he is 17 of 79 (.215 avg, .561 OPS) with 7 runs scored, 8 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. The Braves hope the time off that Escobar had will help him get his bat going.

20-year old lefty swinging 1B Freddie Freeman is getting closer to the majors for the Braves. Freeman entered this season as the Braves’ #2 rated prospect according to Baseball America. He has played in 29 games in AAA-ball so far this season and he is 31 of 110 (.282 avg, .815 OPS) with 16 runs scored, 4 homers and 16 RBIs. Freeman has now played in 329 games in his four years in the minors with the Braves and he is 360 for 1,229 (.293 avg, .809 OPS) with 168 runs scored, 36 homers and 199 RBIs. Freeman has a solid upside but he will likely spend all or most of the season in AAA unless something happens to Troy Glaus who is playing well for the Braves right now.