Toussaint eyed as addition to 6-man rotation

LOS ANGELES -- As the Braves progress through this road trip, they plan to give some of their staring pitchers some extra rest by using a six-man rotation.

Braves manager Brian Snitker confirmed Touki Toussaint will likely make a start during this week’s series against the Rockies at Coors Field. Toussaint hasn’t made a start since Aug. 22, but he did pitch the final inning of Sunday’s win over the Giants in Atlanta.

The Braves will start Charlie Morton on Tuesday and then turn to Max Fried in Wednesday’s series finale at Dodger Stadium. While Toussaint would be an option to start Thursday’s series opener in Colorado, it would seemingly be more beneficial to push him back to Saturday or Sunday, when he could give Drew Smyly or Charlie Morton extra rest.

If the Braves do not tinker with their rotation, Huascar Ynoa and Ian Anderson would start the first two games of the Rockies series on extra rest. Ynoa has made three starts since spending three months on the injured list and Anderson has made just one start since returning from a seven-week absence. Neither is in need of extra rest at this time.

By not starting Toussaint until Saturday, the Braves could give both Smyly and Morton extra rest. Or they could choose to avoid Smyly starting at Coors Field by skipping him on Saturday and pushing his next start to next week’s series against the Nationals.

Another option would be to push Smyly back just one day to start Sunday’s series finale at Coors Field. This would allow Morton to start the Sept. 7 game against the Nationals with two extra days of rest.

Rosario gets another start

Snitker gave Adam Duvall a rare start in center field and opted to give Eddie Rosario a second straight start, despite the Dodgers starting left-hander Julio Urías on Monday night.

As recently as Saturday, the Braves manager gave the impression Rosario would be primarily used off the bench. But he seemed to alter his thinking after seeing the recently acquired outfielder record a pair of hits, including a triple, while making his first start Sunday.

“I wanted to get my eyes on him again,” Snitker said. “I hadn’t seen him for a long time and when I saw it, I wanted to see it again.”

When the Braves acquired Rosario, Duvall and Jorge Soler via three Trade Deadline deals on July 30, Snitker wasn’t sure exactly how he’d use this trio and Joc Pederson, who had been acquired from the Cubs on July 15. Now that Rosario has returned from an injured list stint that began before he was acquired, the veteran skipper is trying to get a feel for what he has.

Instead of giving the right-handed-hitting Guillermo Heredia a start against Urías, Snitker opted to put Rosario in left field and give Duvall his eighth career start as a center fielder. Each of the previous seven were made earlier this year for the Marlins.

“So it's kind of interesting, now all of a sudden, the outfield thing we've been talking about is real and I'm still not 100 percent sure how we're going to navigate this,” Snitker said.

Anderson’s exit

Anderson’s first start in seven weeks concluded in unique fashion, with him being lifted with a 1-0 count and two outs in the sixth inning of Sunday’s game. Snitker made the decision after a wild pitch moved Darin Ruf to second base with Brandon Crawford at the plate.

“Originally, I was going to have [Brandon Belt] be [Anderson’s] last hitter and let [Tyler] Matzek have Crawford,” Snitker said. “Right now, I’m glad he wild-pitched him to second and forced me out of the dugout.”

Matzek finished the Crawford plate appearance with a walk and then preserved Anderson’s 5 2/3 scoreless innings by striking out Wilmer Flores.