DENVER – The Braves will wait at least one day longer than initially planned to activate Matt Kemp from the disabled list, but when they do activate him he’ll be back in the lineup as the every-day left fielder.
Manager Brian Snitker made that clear when asked Wednesday how left field might shake out once Kemp returns from the 10-day disabled list as soon as Saturday. He’s been out since July 29 with a strained hamstring.
“He’ll play left,” Snitker said. “That’s just it, pretty much.”
Matt Adams, Danny Santana and Sean Rodriguez all have made at least four starts in left field in the 17 games since Kemp went on the DL, with Adams starting seven of those games and Santana starting six including each of the past four.
Santana has been in the lineup for all three of the first four games of the series at Coors Field that ends Thursday afternoon, after Snitker said before the series opener than Adams, a below-average defensive outfielder, would not start any games in the spacious outfield at Coors. Rodriguez started four of the first seven games after Kemp was placed on the DL, then Rodriguez was traded to Pittsburgh.
It's unclear how much playing time Adams will get for the rest of the season or where, with Freddie Freeman back playing every day at first base and Kemp presumably playing virtually every day in left field as long as he stays healthy.
Kemp has been with the Braves on their current seven-game trip that ends Thursday, accompanying the team so that he could continue working with their physical therapist. He has done rigorous running, hitting and agility workouts every other day including Wednesday, and the plan had been to activate him Friday for the home-series opener against Cincinnati.
But Andrew Hauser, Braves director of player health and performance, told Snitker he wanted to have Kemp work out and test the hamstring again Friday in Atlanta.
“I’m hoping that if he does that Friday they’ll activate him on Saturday,” Snitker said. “We’ll see. Something may happen tomorrow. But right now that’s kind of (the plan).”
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