McLouth’s Debut Washed Out

The Braves’ newest acquisition Nate McLouth’s debut was postponed on Thursday thanks to Mother Nature. Even before he has swung a bat there is already tons of news regarding the centerfielder.

Reaction
McLouth told reporters he was shocked by the news of the trade. Unlike his former teammates Jason Bay and Xavier Nady, McLouth hadn’t heard any rumors involving his move to the Braves. And while he was very sad to leave the only organization he’s ever known, he is equally as excited to head over to a competitive Braves club.

His teammates, however, are not happy his departure. Pirates second baseman Freddy Sanchez had this to say "Wow! I think the biggest thing was the shock factor. It's obviously a tough pill to swallow. Our No. 3 hitter just got taken away, the guy who leads our team in home runs and RBIs, and we were 6½ games out. We could still have been right there. I think we still can. But we're all just kind of wondering right now ... wondering what it is."

Batting Order
McLouth will take over the third spot in the batting order from veteran Chipper Jones. Jones told reporters he “was open to whatever he [Bobby Cox] thought was best for the club.” Jones will move to the fourth spot in the lineup that had Kelly Johnson leading off, Yunel Escobar in second, McLouth, Jones and then Brian McCann in the fifth spot.

Roster Spot
To make room on the 25 man roster, the Braves optioned Brian Barton back to Triple-A Gwinnett. Barton was brought up after the Braves placed reliever Jorge Campillo back on the DL.

Random Facts
-Nate took over Tom Glavine’s locker in the Braves clubhouse.
-McLouth is fluent in Spanish after taking it in high school. Crap, I took six years of Spanish between middle school and high school and all I can remember is that liberia is the book store and biblioteca is the library.
(Photo: Elissa Eubanks/AJC)