It was reported yesterday that Micah Owings would be called up to take Saturday's start in place of Armando Galarraga, who had been designated for assignment. The question of who would be sent down to make room for Owings has now been answered, and it is neither Sean Burroughs nor Josh Wilson. The Diamondbacks announced after Friday night's game that Russell Branyan has been released.
Russell Branyan was signed by Arizona to a minor league contract and made the big league club the last week of spring training. He had a phenomenal spring, hitting .436 with three home runs. But he was signed and selected to be a power hitter off of the bench, and he hasn't delivered in that role this season. In 12 games as a starter, he was 4-for-45 with five walks, two runs batted in and only one home run. His off-the-bench numbers were even worse, going 1-for-17 with four strikeouts. With Xavier Nady and Juan Miranda playing better and settling in nicely as a platoon, it made sense that Branyan would be the odd man out.
Branyan has played on nine teams during his oft-injured big league career. He has a career batting average of .234 with 190 home runs.