Braves’ McCann expects to go on DL

Having left fielder Garret Anderson go on the 15-day disabled list Friday with a strained quadriceps was bad enough for the Braves.

But having catcher Brian McCann join him on the DL is something else entirely.

That’s what is expected Saturday, when McCann believes he will land on the DL because of continued blurry vision and dryness in his left eye, which the All-Star catcher is ready to have repaired right away through laser surgery.

The Braves have called catcher Clint Sammons from Class AAA Gwinnett in anticipation of the likely McCann move to the DL.

“We’ll see how he feels tomorrow, but I don’t think it’ll change,” manager Bobby Cox said of McCann’s condition.

Cox is reluctant to put McCann on the 15-day DL before he sees a third specialist next week in Atlanta. If there is something other than surgery that could get McCann through the season, Cox would prefer he do it.

But Cox also doesn’t want to wait through the weekend and have David Ross as his only catcher if McCann continues having blurred vision.

“I hate to put him on the DL,” Cox said. “But we can’t play with one catcher.”

McCann, a three-time All-Star who was scratched from the lineup Friday after batting practice. He said after Friday night’s game that he wants to do whatever it takes to get the matter resolved.

He indicated that Lasik surgery is probably how it’ll be done, since attempts to correct the condition temporarily through single contact lenses in the left eye failed to get results.

McCann had Lasik surgery on both eyes after the 2007 season, and no vision problems at all in 2008, when he hit .301 with 23 homers and 87 RBI to win a second Silver Slugger Award as the National League’s best hitting catcher.

The problems began opening day in Philadelphia, and haven’t stopped for any significant stretch since then despite the use of prescribed ointments, drops and two different contacts from doctors in Atlanta and Washington.

“I’d rather take a couple of weeks and get this squared away,” McCann said, “so I can finish the season. It just got to the point where I wasn’t helping the team and wasn’t helping myself.”

Last week during a 1-for-20 slump that dropped his average to .200, McCann was concerned about the prospect of needing more laser-eye surgery during the season. Now, he seems to have accepted it as inevitable.

While tests showed his vision was no longer 20-20 in the left eye, McCann hoped the contact lens he got Tuesday from a Washington doctor would get him through the season before more surgery. But the problem was back in full on Friday.