PHOENIX – And on the 98th day, Ender Inciarte got a rest.
For only the second time all season, the Braves’ All-Star center fielder was out of the lineup Monday. Manager Brian Snitker said it was only coincidence that it came in the series opener against Inciarte’s original team, the Arizona Diamondbacks.
“I just kind of feel like he needs a day (off),” Snitker said before batting practice Monday at Chase Field, where the Braves were set to begin the second series of their three-city, 11-game road trip after splitting four games at Dodger Stadium. “Looking back, probably (Sunday) would have been a good chance. But (Dodgers left-hander Clayton) Kershaw had reverse splits against lefties and Ender had hit him a little bit, kind of wanted him in there.
“But he didn’t have an All-Star break, really. He was on the go. So, just give him a day.”
Danny Santana got the start in center field Monday, as he did June 10 against the Mets in the only previous time this season that Inciarte wasn’t in the lineup.
Inciarte was 3-for-18 in the four-game Dodgers series including 0-for-8 with one walk in the last two games Saturday and Sunday. That gave him consecutive hitless games twice in the past seven days, after Inciarte hit .336 with .384 OBP in 72 games from April 24 through July 16 without having consecutive hitless games once that entire stretch of nearly three months.
Inciarte ranked third in the majors with 124 hits before Monday behind Jose Altuve (134) and Charlie Blackmon (133), and he was also third in hits (224) since the 2016 All-Star break.
Inciarte’s 414 at-bats were nine more than the majors’ next-highest total (Blackmon, 405) before Monday and his 450 plate appearances ranked Inciarte second in the majors behind Mookie Betts’ 452.
The Braves got Inciarte and shortstop Dansby Swanson, along with pitching prospect Aaron Blair, from the Diamondbacks in a December 2015 trade for pitcher Shelby Miller. Neither Inciarte or the slumping Swanson were in the lineup Monday, but the Braves plan to bring Blair from Triple-A to start Wednesday’s series finale after trading Jaime Garcia to the Twins on Monday.
