The Braves have ended the Livan Hernandez experiment by designating the veteran hurler to make room for the return of Kris Medlen.
Medlen will likely rejoin the Atlanta bullpen after spending the past couple of weeks with Triple-A Gwinnett. Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez will provide more information about his plans for Medlen when he meets with the media later this afternoon.
Everybody will agree that Medlen essentially wasted his time while spending the past two weeks stretching his arm out in preparation to return to the Majors as a starting pitcher. But Gonzalez indicated on Wednesday that he likely will not remove Mike Minor or Randall Delgado from the starting rotation.
Two weeks ago when the Braves sent Medlen to Gwinnett to make a few starts, Minor and Delgado were both struggling and giving the club reason to look for other options.
Hernandez had never served as a reliever before agreeing to join the Braves hours after the Astros designated him for assignment in late March. He posted a 2.73 ERA while allowing opponents to reach base at a .327 clip during his first 16 appearances of the year. But he allowed nine earned in the 4 2/3 innings that he completed in his past two outings.
---- Source: MLB.com