Adonis Garcia was scratched from the Braves lineup Tuesday with back stiffness, replaced in left field by Nick Swisher.
“He tried to get loosened up and he couldn’t do it,” manager Fredi Gonzalez said. “Couldn’t get loosened up.”
Swisher has some creakiness in his surgically repaired knees, but said “no problem” when Gonzalez asked about playing.
When the Braves got outfielders Swisher and Michael Bourn from Cleveland in the Aug. 7 trade for Chris Johnson, Swisher initially filled in for injured first baseman Freddie Freeman. But soon Freeman returned from the disabled list, and after the Braves activated third baseman Hector Olivera some doubted that Swisher would have much chance to play down the stretch, since Garcia and Michael Bourn would presumably get plenty of starts in left field.
However, there has been no shortage of playing time for Swisher, who started 17 of the past 20 games, including 16 starts in left field in that period and one at first base. He was batting just .213 in 42 games for the Braves before Tuesday, but had four homers, 17 RBIs, 23 walks and a .356 on-base percentage.
He’ll be 35 in November and is playing on knees both surgically repaired last year, but Swisher continues to display as much or more energy than anyone else on the Braves roster – or any team’s roster.
“It’s great to have a guy like that,” Braves shortstop Andrelton Simmons said, “because sometimes you lose that feeling, you lose that excitement because you’re in the big leagues for a little bit and you get comfortable. But once you see that – he’s excited to play every day. We’ve been out of the playoff race for a while, and still he’s bringing it every day.
“He still wants to do good. He still tries to pump guys up, he’s still trying to be positive. And he’s battling with a little sore knee here, a little thing there, but he’s still going. He’s still going and he still wants to win.”
