A front-office mistake left the Atlanta Braves short a player for their game against the Chicago Cubs on Sunday.

The Braves announced four hours before the scheduled first pitch that they had selected the contract of veteran utility player Emilio Bonifacio from Triple-A Gwinnett and optioned reliever Chris Withrow to Gwinnett.

One problem: Bonifacio isn’t eligible to be on the Braves’ 25-man roster until Saturday because it hasn’t been 30 days since he was released by the Braves and re-signed to a minor league deal.

And bringing back Withrow wasn’t an option.

“I just saw him leave,” Manager Fredi Gonzalez said.

So the Braves had only 24 players, even as Bonifacio wandered around their clubhouse Sunday morning.

“It’s sort of a perfect storm of weird circumstances,” said Billy Ryan, Atlanta’s director of baseball operations.

“The fact that he signed back with us after being released off a big league deal in spring training, and that sort of ties our hands with what we can do with him with respect to the next few days.”

The commissioner’s office informed the Braves of their mistake after they announced the move.

Bonifacio didn’t even get to unpack before he was sent back to Gwinnett.

“It is unfortunate,” Ryan said. “We just spoke to Boni and explained it to him. We feel bad for him and having to explain it to him. We’ll just have to move on from there.”

Bonifacio was designated for assignment on April 2. He was released on April 6, then re-signed with Atlanta on a minor league deal four days later.

The 30-day clock for him rejoining the big league roster starts on the date of his release, not the day he was designated for assignment.

ANGELS: Los Angeles optioned right-handed starter Matt Shoemaker to Triple-A Salt Lake in one of five roster moves.

Also, right-hander A.J. Achter was recalled from Salt Lake.

Outfielder Craig Gentry was placed on the 15-day disabled list because of a right lumbar spine strain.

Left-hander C.J. Wilson (shoulder) was transferred to the 60-day DL to make room on the 40-man roster for outfielder Shane Robinson.

Blue Jays: Right-handed pitcher Bo Schultz (left hip surgery) gave up three runs, three hits and walked two while getting two outs in his second rehab appearance Saturday for Class A Dunedin.

• Outfielder Michael Bourn is hitting .250 with four RBI in seven games with Dunedin.

Tim Lincecum, a two-time NL Cy Young Award winner, will pitch for major league clubs in a showcase event Friday as he attempts to make a comeback from hip surgery last year.