Braves Acquire Outfielder Nate McLouth from Pittsburgh

The Atlanta Braves and Pittsburgh Pirates announced today that the two clubs have completed a four-player trade. The Braves acquired outfielder Nate McLouth from the Pirates in exchange for pitcher Charlie Morton, minor-league outfielder Gorkys Hernandez, and minor-league pitcher Jeff Locke.

McLouth, 27, was a National League All-Star and Rawlings Gold Glove winner during the 2008 season when he set career highs with a .276 batting average, 26 home runs, 94 runs batted in, 23 stolen bases and a NL-leading 46 doubles. His 113 runs scored ranked fifth in the NL and his 76 extra-base hits ranked eighth.

He has a .261 career batting average with 60 home runs and 194 runs batted in during five major-league seasons with Pittsburgh.

McLouth led all NL center fielders with a .997 fielding percentage last season and he has yet to make an error in 45 games in the outfield this season. On the basepaths, he has the best stolen base percentage (64-of-69, 92.8%) among all major leaguers since the start of the 2005 season. He was 23-for-26 in stolen-base attempts in 2008 and he has 28 consecutive successful attempts dating back to April 22, 2008.

McLouth was originally selected by Pittsburgh in the 25th round of the 2000 draft.

Morton, 25, was selected by Atlanta in the third round of the 2002 June free agent draft. He went 4-8 with a 6.15 ERA in 16 games for the Braves in 2008 and he was 7-2 with a 2.51 ERA in 10 games with Gwinnett (AAA) in 2009. Hernandez, 21, was acquired by the Braves along with pitcher Jair Jurrjens in October of 2007 in exchange for infielder Edgar Renteria. He was hitting .316 with 19 runs batted in with Mississippi in 2009. Locke, 21, was the Braves second round selection in the 2006 June free agent draft and he was 1-4 with a 5.52 ERA in 10 games with Myrtle Beach (A) this season.

-----
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page