ARLINGTON, Texas – Evan Gattis was out of the lineup Sunday for the sixth consecutive game due to lingering effects from strep throat, the Braves said.
The catcher hasn’t played in a week, missing both the Washington and National series after playing all three games against the Marlins in the first series of the nine-game trip and hitting a game-winning homer at Miami on Sept. 6.
Gattis began to feel ill while catching a series finale the next afternoon, and was diagnosed with strep throat by a Washington doctor on Monday.
The big catcher is a native of the Dallas area and had looked forward to returning to his hometown to play for the first time as a major leaguer. Scores of friends and family members had planned for some time to come out and see him play, and at least 100 of them sat below a “Gattis Gang” sign in the left-field second deck in Friday’s series opener.
But after Gattis reportedly feeling better on Wednesday, his recovery apparently stalled and his condition regressed soon after the team arrived in Texas. He was examined by a Rangers doctor two or three times during the series, and Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said he was advised not to use him even as a designated hitter or pinch-hitter.
“It (sickness) is still there,” Gonzalez said before Sunday’s game. “He’ll see our doc tomorrow. It’s been seven days. Maybe the next checkup will be better.”
