Braves backup catcher Gerald Laird is on a seven-game hitting streak, raising his batting average from .209 to .243 over the stretch, and that’s a bonus for a team that needs all the offensive production it can get.
But manager Fredi Gonzalez said Laird’s real worth comes behind the plate. The latest example came during the 8-3 victory against the Padres on Sunday, when Laird helped struggling starter Mike Minor simplify his approach.
Evan Gattis is in his first full season as the Braves’ regular catcher and has 96 big-league starts at the position. Laird has started 670 games at catcher over 12 seasons in the majors.
“There are some times we stick (Laird) with a certain pitcher just because we want him to get through the game because of his veteran leadership, the way he calls games,” Gonzalez said. “He does that. That’s hard to quantify. Sometimes, (pitching coach) Roger (McDowell) will come in and say, ‘Hey, we need Laird to match up with this (pitcher) today.’ I think we’ve gone up and down the rotation with him.”
When Laird met with Minor before Sunday’s game, he said he realized the pitcher had been getting advice from “every different direction.” So Laird said he decided to skip the usual detailed report on the batters in the opposing lineup and encouraged Minor to keep it simple.
“I said, ‘Listen, I know you’re battling some stuff out there and you’re going through some changes but let’s get back to the basics and pound the zone with everything,’ ” Laird recalled. “ ‘Let’s not really go over the hitters and just make pitches today. Throw pitches in the zone, make pitches, let’s focus on keeping it simple.’ And he did that, we did that.
“I’m sure he probably wanted to do a little better. I thought he did a heck of a job but just something for him to build off.”
Minor said he stopped trying to work the corners of the plate while worrying about contact. He limited the Padres to three runs over 7 2/3 innings for just his second quality start (at least six innings and no more than three earned runs) among his last six outings.
