PHOENIX – Braves general manager John Hart said the club intends to take Evan Gattis out from behind the plate and play him full time in left field as a way to assure him more at-bats.
That decision would have a domino effect. If he plays left, that means that Justin Upton cannot. So the Braves could do the following: Play Jason Heyward in center, Upton in right and Gattis in left. That would mean B.J. Upton does not play.
Or they could trade an outfielder or two or …
Atlanta is currently contemplating which direction to go. Heyward and Justin Upton are both free agents after this season, and the Braves could move one or both as a push toward rebuilding. They have been trying to trade the underperforming B.J. Upton for a year, but the three years at $46.35 million left on his deal make him among the hardest players to deal in the majors.
They also have let teams know that in the right situation Gattis also could be moved. However, they are intrigued by his power (43 homers in 723 at-bats) and his low cost (he is four years from free agency and not yet arbitration eligible).
“We want to get Evan’s bat in the lineup, and if he catches, he would play just 100 games and we would not have a bat perhaps good enough to hit cleanup for those other games,” Hart said. “So we are going to put Evan in left field and see what we have.”
Hart said nothing is etched in granite, but the current plan was for the 28-year-old Gattis to give up catching and concentrate solely in left as a way to maximize his bat and minimize the wear and tear on his body.
Gattis almost certainly will be underwhelming in left. But Hart noted that many good teams are playing below-average defenders in left. That included an NLCS in which St. Louis had Matt Holliday and San Francisco used Travis Ishikawa. In addition, Gattis is not considered a strong defensive catcher.
The problem would arise if the Braves kept all the players and they performed well. Atlanta’s latest hope on reviving B.J. Upton is that new hitting coach Kevin Seitzer will have a positive impact. Hart, though, called it “an interesting problem” and one he clearly would prefer to have.