The St. Louis Cardinals won't have to worry about facing Atlanta Braves catcher Brian McCann in Friday's NL Wild Card play-in game, as David Ross will get the start behind the plate for the Braves, according to Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports.
Rosenthal reports that Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez cited the Cardinals tendency to run, paired with McCann being "beat up, banged up" as reasons for the move.
The Braves backstop has battled injuries all season, including a cyst and a frayed labrum in his shoulder, and most recently, hamstring tendonitis.
McCann played in 121 games for the Braves in 2012, his lowest total since taking over the starting job in 2006. While his power numbers (20 home runs and 67 RBI) aren't too far off from his career norms, his .230 batting average and .698 OPS in 2012 were the worst of his eight-year MLB career.
First pitch for Friday's NL Wild Card play-in is scheduled for 4:07 p.m. CT, and the game will be televised on TBS.