Following a collision at home plate, Braves catcher Travis d’Arnaud will be placed on the seven-day concussion injured list, manager Brian Snitker said following Saturday’s 4-1 loss to the Padres.
In the top of the fourth inning, Matt Olson fielded a grounder and fired home to d’Arnaud, who reached out to catch it, then spun around to tag San Diego’s Rougned Odor, who ran through him.
D’Arnaud was eventually diagnosed with a concussion.
“It’s nothing to mess around with at all when your brain gets hit like that,” Snitker said.
D’Arnaud actually stayed in the game after the play. He caught the rest of the fourth inning, batted in the bottom of the inning and lined out to left, then went back out and caught the fifth.
Sean Murphy replaced d’Arnaud for the top of the sixth.
The Braves evaluated d’Arnaud in the tunnel after the play occurred.
“And it kind of progressively, I think, got worse after we took him out,” Snitker said. " … I just know I went down in the tunnel and the doctor was looking at him and it was pretty apparent we were going to have to take him out.”
Asked what the Braves saw to determine d’Arnaud needed to be removed from the game, Snitker said: “You look at a guy and you can tell. His eyes and all. You can tell.”
It was a scary play. Once d’Arnaud rotated his body, he became exposed. Odor was running at full speed, and d’Arnaud was almost crouched down as he received Olson’s throw and turned his body. D’Arnaud didn’t catch the ball, and then took a hit.
“I don’t think there was any bad intent there,” Olson said. “Probably just going, bang-bang play, my throw was a little glove-side, took Travis that way so he had to reach and try to come around quick. I guess (Odor) bumped into him pretty good.”
“I saw that he got spun around and I knew he got hit somewhere at the top of his body and then obviously, when you’re dealing with the vulnerable part of somebody, then the number one concern there is for his health,” said Charlie Morton, who was on the mound when the play occurred.
D’Arnaud has a history of concussions dating to earlier in his career.
The collision was part of a weird and uncommon play. Odor never touched home plate, but Ha-Seong Kim, who was running behind him, did. Odor went back and touched home after Kim did, but the Braves appealed by having Morton step off the mound and throw the ball to d’Arnaud, essentially asking for the appeal on Odor not touching home.
Odor was ruled out. The Padres scored one run instead of two.
Chadwick Tromp and Joe Hudson are the catchers at Triple-A Gwinnett. Tromp might be the likeliest option to replace d’Arnaud because he came up last year and served his role when necessary, including when he tied a career high with three hits and three RBIs in a game in Miami.
This spring, Tromp was in big-league camp before playing for The Netherlands in the World Baseball Classic. Over four Triple-A contests thus far, Tromp is 5-for-17 with a double and three RBIs.
“Very confident in him and comfortable with him,” Snitker said. “He did a great job here. We loved him in spring training, he went and played (in the) WBC. He’s a very capable, reliable guy. I like him a lot. I think we’re fortunate to have that depth in Triple A.”
Snitker has referenced certain players who play so much baseball that, eventually, they turn a corner and improve. He said Tromp is probably one of them.
“They grow up and they never stop playing,” Snitker said. “As soon as his options are up, he’s going to be in the big leagues for the rest of his career. He’s a nice little player. He receives, throws, he can swing the bat. It’s a good option for us right now in this situation.”
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