Hoos in the Majors: Phil Gosselin, Mark Reynolds Make Moves

With a 14.5 game division lead, things are looking pretty good for the Atlanta Braves. Not so much, however, for the team's middle infielders. Dan Uggla was placed on the DL early in the week as he undergoes LASIK surgery; his replacement, Tyler Pastornicky, tore his ACL in a collision with right-fielder Jason Heyward and is out for the rest of the season.

Enter Phil Gosselin.

The Braves brought Gosselin up from AAA Gwinnett, where the second basemen had been hitting .277/.326/.343 in 47 games this season. Gosselin has been especially hot of late with a batting average of .354 over his last 18 games. He will wear #59 for Atlanta.

As an interesting tidbit, Gosselin has been called up as the Braves are set to begin a series against the distant-second-place Nationals. The Nationals are, of course, the team of Stephen Strasburg, against whom Gosselin went deep in the 2009 NCAA Tournament, powering the Hoos to a victory over Strasburg's San Diego State squad. Strasburg will take the mound for Washington on Saturday night; first pitch is 7:10 PM.

In other Hoos baseball news, Mark Reynolds agreed to terms with the New York Yankees. Reynolds moves to New York after having been designated for assignment by the Cleveland Indians. He cooled off dramatically after a torrid start to the season, but the Yankees are looking to add some pop to their lineup and are counting on Reynolds to return to form soon.