Catchers A.J. Pierzynski and Tyler Flowers were splitting playing time before the Braves placed Flowers on the disabled list Friday and interim manager Brian Snitker said he plans to do the same with Pierzynski and new addition Anthony Recker.
Recker was in the lineup against the Reds on Monday for his second start in four games since being promoted from Triple-A Gwinnett. Recker started against the Rockies on Sunday and Snitker said he would be in the lineup against left-handed starting pitchers in the first two games of the Reds series.
Snitker said Recker “has been a very good catch-and-throw guy for a long time” and praised his work with Julio Teheran when the right-hander pitched seven scoreless innings with three hits against the Rockies on Sunday.
“It seemed like they were in sync and working really good together,” Snitker said. “(Recker) had been swinging the bat pretty well in Gwinnett. They’ve made some changes and worked with him a little bit. It seemed like it was working so I want to get him out there three days in a row and see if he can get it going offensively.”
In 40 games with Gwinnett this season Recker hit .243 with a .325 on-base percentage and .419 slugging percentage. In 167 big-game leagues before this season he hit .185 with a .260 OBP and .334 SLG.
Pierzynski, 39, enjoyed an offensive resurgence with the Braves in 2015 and hit .300 with a .339 OBP and .430 SLG. But he entered Monday hitting .212 with a .233 OBP and .272 SLG.
Pierzynski also has struggled defensively. According to FanGraphs, Pierzynski’s -8 defensive runs saved above average in 398 2/3 innings this season entering Monday are the worst among major league catchers who’ve played at least 350 innings. DRS is a defensive statistic calculated by The Fielding Bible.
Pierzynski entered Monday with 16,202 innings caught over 19 big-league seasons. He caught 909 2/3 innings in 2015, the most since he caught 1,005 in 2013 with the Rangers.
“Sometimes he amazes me, he’s such a big man and all of the catching he’s done,” Snitker said. “He doesn’t appear to be tired or anything like that. That’s another thing, (I’m) kind of conscious of trying to keep him going and keep him fresh if we can. We will just split the duties up. There’s plenty of work for both of them.”
