NEW YORK — Braves slugger Evan Gattis hasn't been cleared to resume any baseball activities and likely won't be ready to come off the disabled list immediately after the All-Star break, manager Fredi Gonzalez said.
Gattis has a bulging thoracic disk and hasn’t played since feeling pain when he swung at a pitch June 27 in Philadelphia. He was DL’d retroactively to June 28 and received an epidural injection in his back on July 1. He’s with the Braves on a seven-game trip that started Monday against the Mets and ends with a three-game series Friday through Sunday at Chicago against the Cubs.
“I think before this road trip is over he’ll try to do a little bit of baseball activity, but not much,” Gonzalez said. “I talked to him today. They’re taking it slow. He’s hoping that by the time we get to Chicago that they let him catch some bullpens. I think that the swing might be the last part.
“It seems like if he’s only going to catch bullpens by this Saturday or Sunday, I think he won’t come off after the break. I don’t think he’ll be ready when we come off (the break)…. There are places he could (play rehab games) during the All-Star break. I think Rome is playing on Tuesday. I think Gwinnett has three days off. But without talking to any of our medical people I think that would be a stretch, for him to be ready when the All-Star break ends.”
