Cory

Aldridge

Aldridge sat out three games for Greenville after being dropped from the 40-man roster to make room for Kent Mercker.

Aldridge was once viewed as a prospect, but he served only a brief stint in the majors in 2001 and the Braves dropped him from their 40-man roster last August.

Aldridge is a career minor leaguer with two brief major league stints with the Braves and Angels in 2010. He is expected to be used as organizational depth.

Wichita finally broke through for five in the 20th inning after Corpus Christi ran out of pitchers and turned to position player Eric Riggs. Aldridge, a former Braves prospect, homered and doubled twice. Justin Huber went 0-for-8 with a walk for Wichita.

He’ll also be invited to Spring Training. Aldridge, 30, spent all of last season in the Royals organization, batting .316/.361/.582 with 22 homers and 71 RBI for Triple-A Omaha. He hasn’t appeared in the majors since a brief stint with the Braves during the 2001 season.

The move creates a 40-man roster spot for Kent Mercker. The Braves used to consider Aldridge a top prospect, but he’s hitting just .236 with 13 homers and 39 RBI for Double-A Greenville this year.

Aldridge had 13 at-bats with the big league club in July, but spent most of the year with Triple-A Salt Lake, batting .318/.388/.535 with 13 home runs and 59 RBI. The 31-year-old outfielder can become a free agent.

Aldridge was released by the Braves after batting .242/.275/.356 in 39 games for Double-A Greenville, but he’s been outstanding since joining Wichita, hitting .309/.415/.636 in 30 games. He’s still not really any kind of a prospect.