Chris Johnson was in the lineup at third base Friday for the first time in six games and just the sixth time in 23 games since the Braves acquired Juan Uribe in a May 27 trade from the Dodgers.
After starting 123 games at third base for the Braves in 2013 and 149 games at the position in 2014, Johnson has been used as a platoon player in his third season with the team, playing mostly against left-handers. One of his starts at third base since the Uribe trade came when Uribe played second base.
Johnson is in the first season of a three-year, $23.5 million extension that he got in late May 2014 from then-manager Frank Wren, who was fired in October. The Braves have tried to trade Johnson since the fall, and still hope to move him before the July 31 trade deadline.
He got a start Friday against Mets right-hander Jacob deGrom, his second start against the Mets ace in a week. Johnson was 0-for-3 with two strikeouts against deGrom in Saturday’s game at New York, and still had a team-best 5-for-11 against the Mets standout before Friday’s series opener at Turner Field.
“You look ahead and you try not to overplay Uribe,” Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. “And you look ahead at the schedule, you’re still facing (mostly) right-handers. So we said, this is a matchup that historically he’s been able to handle, so get him in there.”
Gonzalez was asked whether that would be how Johnson was used going forward, against lefties and occasional righties.
“Yeah, he’s part of the team. He’s part of the 25,” Gonzalez said. “He’s going to come in in a pinch-hit situation sooner or later, and if he hasn’t played in a week, 10 days, that’s not fair for him or for us. So you look for a matchup that suits him well, and looking ahead, you don’t see any left-handers anywhere. So run him in there someplace.”
