PHILADELPHIA — Disabled duo Brandon Beachy and Evan Gattis accompanied the Braves on the trip, and Saturday both continued their progress toward returning at still-undetermined points in the relatively near future.
Beachy threw a 50-pitch bullpen session, the most he’s thrown from the mound since shutting down his rehab assignment three weeks ago due to inflammation in his surgically repaired elbow.
“He threw well,” manager Fredi Gonzalez said. “We’ll see how he comes out tomorrow. Always got to wait to see how he comes out. And then (Beachy, pitching coach Roger McDowell and head trainer Jeff Porter) will get together and see where we go from there. But I saw a pretty good bullpen.”
Gattis, recovering from a strained oblique, ran and threw with pitchers in the outfield for the second consecutive day prior to the team’s regular batting practice. Then he hit balls off a tee for the third time in the indoor batting cages.
Gonzalez said Gattis may be instructed to rest Sunday before he increases his activities when the Braves travel to Miami on Monday. The manager said it was unlikely Gattis would be ready to take live batting practice before the end of that series.
More and more, it seems Gattis is probably looking at a return after the All-Star break.
Emergency catcher: After Gerald Laird was ejected from Friday's 5-4 loss in the third inning for arguing with home-plate umpire Angel Hernandez, it left the Braves with only one active catcher, Brian McCann.
Gonzalez, who was also ejected by Hernandez after coming to Laird’s defense, said the emergency catcher would’ve been infielder Paul Janish or rookie outfielder Joey Terdoslavich, although the manager didn’t know that until talking to each of them at the indoor batting cage after Gonzalez was tossed from the game.
“I spent a lot of time thinking about that (after he and Laird were thrown out),” Gonzalez said. “Janish said he did it in Cincinnati, was the the official third catcher, and he even caught (bull)pens. Terdo said he caught in high school and even caught a little in college, in the bullpen. And (rookie utilityman Tyler) Pastornicky volunteered.”
