With Freddie Freeman poised to return to the Braves lineup on Monday in Colorado, manager Fredi Gonzalez had a choice to make at third base, and Chris Johnson has all but made it for him.
Entering Sunday, Johnson was hitting .418 (23-for-25) to lead the National League and had multi-hit games in seven of his past 11 games. When Freeman returns to first base, Gonzalez is expected to give Johnson the every-day role at third base, instead of platooning with Juan Francisco.
Gonzalez hinted at it on Saturday and by Sunday it sounded like a foregone conclusion.
“Guy is leading the league in hitting, you know?” Gonzalez said. “We’re not exactly hitting on all cylinders, so…”
He’s not going to sit his hottest hitter at a time when four regulars in the lineup are hitting under .200. Johnson would have played against Colorado left-hander Jeff Francis in the series opener either way, but the Braves figure to have him at third base against right-handers Jon Garland and Jhoulys Chacin as well.
Francisco went 0-for-4 with four strikeouts on Saturday in a loss to Pittsburgh and was out of the lineup against left-hander Jonathan Sanchez on Sunday. He was 1-for-9 with six strikeouts in the series.
Johnson attributes his hot start to work with hitting coach Greg Walker on his bat path and keeping the bat in the strike zone longer, as well as hitting the ball up the middle and from gap-to-gap.
“I’m a load-early guy,” Johnson said. “My foot gets down early, so I have a tendency to come up and out of my swing. Just working on making sure I’m staying inside the ball and using the big part of the field.”
He joked that he knows things are going pretty well for him when he hasn’t heard much from his dad, the Orioles Triple-A manager in Norfolk.
“Right now he’s just kind of leaving me alone,” Johnson said. “I’ll take an 0-for-4 and he’ll call me.”
Freeman ready: Speaking of hot, Freeman went 5-for-5 in his minor league rehabilitation game Saturday night for Triple-A Gwinnett and after playing one final game for Gwinnett on Sunday is expected to join the Braves Monday in Colorado. The Braves, who had hit only .179 and averaged 1.8 runs per game in their previous four games, were looking forward the lift Freeman will bring, both offensively and defensively.
“Free in our lineup, he’s an RBI hog,” Jason Heyward joked. “He’s been that way since I’ve been playing with him.”
Jason Heyward has struggled to get his bat going this season, and a stretch of four left-handed starters in five games was no help. So Gonzalez sat Heyward Sunday against left-hander Jonathan Sanchez, something he’d planned a day ahead.
Heyward is 3-for-25 against left-handers this season while batting only .121 overall. Heyward acknowledged Sunday morning he’s had moments of trying to do too much.
“Sometimes you’re feeling good and you want to do more try and do more than you need to be trying to do,” Heyward said. “My last at-bat (Saturday night) I gave it away just trying to be aggressive.”
Heyward said he’s feeling good mechanically but needs to be more selective at the plate. He said pitchers are being that much more careful with him as the only left-hander in the top of the Braves order.
“I’ve just got to stay patient, get good pitches to hit,” Heyward said. “Even though I do have a bad man hitting behind me (Justin Upton), they still don’t want to make too many mistakes with me this year.”
Uggla rests calf: Gonzalez had planned to rest Dan Uggla on Sunday anyway but when he left the game Saturday night with a strained left calf it became necessary. Uggla woke Sunday morning with his calf feeling much better and hopes to be back in the Braves lineup on Monday in Colorado. Gonzalez might give him an additional day, if weather doesn't handle that for him. There's snow in the Denver forecast both Monday and Tuesday.
Updates: Reliever Luis Avilan returned to the mound Sunday, getting his first work since suffering a strained left hamstring Tuesday against the Royals. He pitched an inning, giving up a hit, a walk and allowed a run to score on a wild pitch….
Brian McCann is still resting his sore right wrist and Gonzalez said he probably won’t begin catching games in extended spring training until later in the week. McCann has shown progress with his arm strength though, a good sign in his recovery from shoulder surgery.
“The reports I got was the wrist was feeling better and his throwing is really, really good,” Gonzalez said. “He’s stretching out, and he’s really throwing the ball, really making progress.”…
Another sign of the name Evan Gattis is making for himself around baseball? The “Batting Stance Guy” has posted a youtube video imitating Gattis’ stance. Gattis said he saw it and thought it was funny.
“He didn’t get the pant legs though,” said Gattis, demonstrating how he tugs his pants up before he takes the bat back.
