Braves Report notes that Travis Wilson was designated for assignment. Which is really odd, in that the Braves were so high on him as recently as Spring Training, and each of the last two seasons had considered promoting him to the majors. Merv the Perv, you’ll recall, thought Travis was the best hitting prospect in the organization after Wilson Betemit, though of course Merv is stupid.

Anyway, Travis isn’t really a baseball player and hasn’t made much progress towards being one since the Braves signed him. In the right organization, he might flourish. Heck, Glenn Williams, whom Wilson resembles — Wilson is from New Zealand, Williams from Australia, and neither did anything in the Braves organization — is on the verge of the majors with Detroit, I think. Maybe Travis will follow in his footsteps.

The Braves have called up four players, as you probably know already. Jesse Garcia, Kevin Gryboski, and Steve Torrealba you already know. Garcia is the only player of any utility and that’s just pinch-running and late-inning defense. The most interesting of the four is the one who hasn’t been up, Trey Hodges. Hodges is a finesse-style starting pitcher out of LSU who had a tremendous season for Richmond, but struggled down the stretch, losing his last four decisions, though in two of them he pitched well enough to win. His overall numbers (15-9, 3.16 ERA, 116 K/56 BB in 172.1 IP) are pretty impressive anyway. He probably needs to rest, that’s got to be the most innings he’s thrown in his career.

Nepotism Update

Also from Braves Report:

Jon Schuerholz was promoted to Macon on Friday. The Braves’ 8th-round draft choice hit just .237 in his 66 games with Danville, but he did lead the team in walks (38 in 245 ABs) and went 11-for-15 in steals. He was a full-time SS and made 29 errors.

I mean, you have to reward a performance like that. A college graduate who hits .237 in low-A ball and holds that error total below the all-important one every two games level? Why, I’m sure this has nothing to do with his father running the organization!