Evan Gattis has come out of nowhere to be a key part of the Braves this season. With 14 home runs and 11 doubles in just a 163 at-bats, he’s been smacking the cover off the ball, and its good enough for a .577 slugging percentage.
Gattis, a 26-year-old unheralded rookie is finally getting his chance in the big leagues and has taken full advantage, pushing incumbent Braves Catcher Brian McCann for playing time, and being a lethal bat off the bench when he does not start. Gattis is one of baseball’s most surprising players this season, as he came to Braves training camp as a non-roster invite and earned the backup job. He’s been slugging ever since.
Unfortunately the first place Braves will have to make do without Gattis for at least the next 15 days, after he was placed on the disabled list following last nights game with the New York Mets. He strained his oblique muscle at some point during last nights 2-1 victory. Gattis did catch all 9 innings in game that was heavily delayed before getting started. He hurt himself on an awkward swing during the game.
“Hopefully we caught it early enough, kind of calm that down,” Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said, adding that according to head trainer Jeff Porter, ”usually, if you’re a right-handed hitter, the right side, it’s better than the left side, as far as it’s not as severe.”
The Braves will use Gerald Laird to back up McCann while Gattis is out of action. The Braves were already carrying three catchers and so have called up Infielder Tyler Pastornicky from Triple-A Gwinnett to fill the hole on the roster.
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