Atlanta Braves acquire Scott Downs, a former Kentucky Wildcats Baseball pitcher

With the Major League Baseball trade deadline approaching tomorrow afternoon, Scott Downs was sent packing.
Jul 29, 2013; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Braves pitcher Scott Downs (32) (second from left) reacts with shortstop Andrelton Simmons (19) (left) and second baseman Dan Uggla (26) (right) after defeating the Colorado Rockies at Turner Field. The Braves defeated the Rockies 9-8 in ten innings. Image Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
Downs, a native of Louisville, Ky., pitched for the University of Kentucky Wildcats under retired coach Keith Madison. Originally drafted by the Chicago Cubs, he has pitched for the Toronto Blue Jays as well.

Most recently, Downs was with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim until being traded to the Atlanta Braves yesterday in the early afternoon in exchange for Cory Rasmus.

Downs has appeared in 43 games this season and has a 1.84 ERA. The PRP product has limited batters to a .243 batting average. Left-handed batters are hitting .196 against the Kentucky alumnus this season.

“I’m excited about Scott being traded to the Braves,” former Kentucky coach Keith Madison said via email. “It will be fun watching him pitch for a team in contention for the playoffs. He is a great competitor and should help the Braves down the stretch.”

“It’s a good and cheap move by Wren, whose team has needed bullpen help since losing Eric O’Flaherty and Jonny Venters for the season,” wrote Atlanta Journal-Constitution sports columnist Jeff Schultz in his blog yesterday.

Mark Bradley, a University of Kentucky graduate who writes for the AJC as a sports columnist, tells me that the Braves were looking for “a left-handed reliever.” Bradley’s column following Downs’ debut as a Brave can be found here.

“Scott brings a lot to the Braves,” ESPN MLB Insider Jim Bowden said. “First, it takes the workload off of Louie Avilan. He’s tremendous but it’s too much of a load. They needed a second shutdown reliever. That’s the first thing.

“He is also a lefty that gets lefties out. It’s very important during the season – I think they’ll win the division anyway – but when you get to the postseason and you are playing teams like the Dodgers, you need that flexibility. When the Dodgers do the left, right, left, right lineup, you can use two lefties, one early, one late and that’s important.

“When you look back at the San Francisco Giants in the NLCS in 2010 and think about Javier Lopez and the work he did against Ryan Howard and Chase Utley, I think that was a critical part of the Giants ultimately winning the World Series. I see Scott Downs as a guy who can be as important to Atlanta in the postseason.”