PHILADELPHIA — Evan Gattis’s recent bout with strep throat and a kidney stone will limit the Braves catcher’s playing time in the season-ending series at Philadelphia’s Citizens Bank Park, where he had five homers and a .920 slugging percentage in 25 career at-bats before Friday.
Gattis wasn’t in the lineup for Friday’s series opener, but manager Fredi Gonzalez said he would play Saturday and possibly Sunday in the season finale. The slugger didn’t catch for 2 ½ weeks because of illness before returning to the lineup Thursday and catching six innings against the Pirates.
“During (Thurday’s) game he felt tired, like we knew he would,” Gonzalez said. “I checked on him in the fifth, because I was trying to get him one more at-bat. … I go, how you feel? He goes, pretty tired. Which we knew; he hadn’t caught in 17 days. But he came out of it good. I’ll probably end up catching him (Saturday) or the next day. We’ll see.
“I think (Saturday) for sure. You hate catching him a day game (Sunday) after a night game, but I’ll check with him. If he tells me he feels good….”
Gattis has a pair of two-homer games at Philadelphia – on April 14, and against left-hander Cole Hamels on Sept. 8, 2013. Hamels is scheduled to start Sunday against Braves lefty Alex Wood.
Gattis had only one at-bat in the Braves’ four-game sweep at Philadelphia June 27-29 before leaving with a bulging disk that landed him on the disabled list.
