After entering a game for the first time in two weeks Saturday, Braves catcher Evan Gattis continued to build his strength in hopes of catching some in the final week of the season.
Gattis was diagnosed with strep throat Sept. 8, and additional tests last week revealed he also had a small kidney stone. He said Sunday that he had not passed the stone and was told he might not, and that it was small enough that it wouldn’t necessarily need to be removed.
He pinch-hit in the fifth inning of Saturday’s 4-2 loss to the Mets, grounding out on the first pitch he saw from Mets left-hander Jon Niese. Gattis had not played since catching the Sept. 1 series finale at Miami. Before that game against the Marlins, manager Fredi Gonzalez said he planned to play Gattis almost every game the rest of the season to keep his powerful bat in the lineup.
During that Sunday afternoon game at Miami, Gattis began to feel ill. A day later in Washington, he was diagnosed with strep throat.
