NEW YORK -- As Anthony Recker donned his Braves uniform and prepped for Monday's Opening Day game against the Mets at Citi Field, he had to chuckle at the reality that just 72 hours earlier, he was concluding Spring Training in Florida with the assumption he was going to begin the season with Triple-A Gwinnett.
Recker was certainly happy to alter his plans on Friday night, when he received a call from Braves general manager John Coppolella, who asked the catcher to begin driving to Atlanta as soon as possible because it looked like he was going to fill the bench spot created when the team ditched its previous plan to carry an extra reliever.