Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports
Usually when a starting pitcher throws a no-hitter, he is pretty much a shoo-in as the lone player of the week.
Atlanta Braves catcher Brian McCann made sure that wasn’t the case, compiling a .600 batting average last week to join Cincinnati Reds starter Homer Bailey, who no-hit the San Francisco Giants last Tuesday, as the National League Co-Players of the Week.
The Braves’ 29-year-old backstop earned his first career weekly honor by going 15-for-25 at the plate in six games, recording an .800 slugging percentage and 22 total bases.
After beginning the week with a .250 average, McCann finished Sunday with a .304 mark thanks to five multi-hit games, including four hits on Saturday and three on Sunday — both against Atlanta’s National League East division rival, the Philadelphia Phillies.
“I knew my best baseball is ahead of me,” McCann told David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Monday. “I knew I had this in me. Now I just want to keep going and finish out the season on a high note.”
Since coming off the disabled list on May 6 following offseason shoulder surgery, McCann had struggled to find the same consistency that he displayed while positioning himself as one of the premier catchers in MLB over his first eight seasons, six of them resulting in All-Star Game appearances.
McCann won’t play in next Tuesday’s Midsummer Classic, but that hasn’t stopped him from hitting like a man possessed. Perhaps he is possessed – possessed with keeping his spot as Atlanta’s catcher of the future.
And although rookie Evan Gattis will likely have something to say about that when he returns from his own stint on the DL, McCann certainly won’t go down quietly.
Josh McKinney is an Atlanta Braves writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @SuperJMac32, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.
