Seems like a good assumption to me, but I think there is a catch in the fact that he hasn't played in a full year. Is he going to be called up immediately after the 20 days pass regardless of how well or poorly he might be playing (assuming he's healthy and able to play regularly), or is there some threshold he'd have to cross productivity-wise before they deem major league ready? Guys like Podsednik and Byrd certainly set a low bar, but it's likely that McDonald and Sweeney will be back before Kalish too.
I guess the question in my mind is given the time off, does he only have to be good enough to be the 4th/5th outfielder to get called up or does he have to show he's well enough to start every day to get the call? Basically, is he better served getting regular playing time at Pawtucket if he's not going to be a full-time starter for the big league club or is he past the point where platooning or sitting on the bench 3-4 times a week is detrimental to his development?
I don't see any point in having him on the bench.
We've got Nava, Lin, Byrd, and Podsednik on the roster, with Gonzalez playing right. On the one hand, the bar for being better than the current outfield options isn't high. On the other hand, the bar for pushing Gonzalez back to first might be pushing Middlebrooks back to AAA which is higher.
