PITTSBURGH — The Braves lineup had a different look again Monday night with hot-hitting second Phil Gosselin, not-hot-hitting center fielder B.J. Upton and catcher Evan Gattis all getting a rest for the series opener against the Pirates.
Gosselin had five hits in the three-game sweep of the Athletics that ended Sunday, and Gattis had three hits in the series including his 18th homer, tied for second among major league catchers.
Manager Fredi Gonzalez said he wanted to give a couple of guys a rest after the team didn’t get to their Pittsburgh hotel until about 3 a.m. following a Sunday night ESPN game against the Athletics. As for Gattis, he would’ve been out of the lineup Monday regardless, after starting all three games against the A’s and eight out of 10 games during the homestand.
Gattis had arthroscopic knee surgery in October, his second surgery on his right knee. That was the primary reason, and the Georgia heat a secondary reason, that Gonzalez said before the season he wanted Gattis to catch about 110 of the Braves’ 162 games and get plenty of rest on days he wasn’t behind the plate.
“Gattis played all three games (against Oakland) and we talked about giving him maybe every fourth game off,” Gonzalez said Monday. “Catch three, one off, catch three…. Keep the cycle we had going early on, try to keep him fresh and keep him healthy.”
