In simply his second recreation again since being activated off the 60-day injured record, Braves second baseman Ozzie Albies suffered a fractured proper pinky finger in tonight’s recreation towards the Phillies. The harm occurred throughout a slide into second base within the fourth inning, and Albies was changed by Vaughn Grissom at second base for the highest of the fifth.
The severity of the harm isn’t but recognized, although the truth that preliminary x-rays decided the issue earlier than the sport was over may point out greater than only a small fracture. It could look like Albies’ 2022 season may very well be over, maybe even when Atlanta made one other run to the World Sequence.
Albies was a giant contributor to final 12 months’s championship staff, incomes his second profession All-Star and Silver Slugger honors whereas additionally ending thirteenth in NL MVP voting. Nevertheless, Albies was off to a comparatively gradual begin over the 2022 marketing campaign’s first two months earlier than he suffered a left foot fracture on June 13 and needed to bear surgical procedure. As famous, Albies was sidelined till simply yesterday, when he went 1-for-4 with two RBI in Atlanta’s 7-2 win over Philadelphia.
The Braves have managed to thrive even with out Albies for a lot of the season, and Grissom has considerably unexpectedly stepped up as a right away contributor after being promoted from Double-A a bit of over a month in the past. Grissom has hit .304/.355/.482 over his first 121 plate appearances within the majors, resulting in some hypothesis that the Braves would strive Grissom in left discipline to be able to hold his sizzling bat within the lineup. Nevertheless, it appears as if opposing pitchers have began to regulate to Grissom, because the rookie has solely a .607 OPS over his final 67 PA.
However, within the wake of Albies’ harm, it will look like Grissom will now once more be the best choice at second base for the rest of the common season and postseason. Orlando Arcia can also be available to offer depth, and Ehire Adrianza can also be available, however presently on the IL himself because of a quad pressure. Pat Valaika, Hernan Perez, and Ryan Goins are among the Triple-A choices with MLB expertise, although Atlanta may have so as to add any of these gamers to the 40-man roster.
It was lower than a 12 months in the past that the Braves overcame the percentages by profitable the World Sequence regardless of shedding a star participant (Acuna) to harm for a lot of the season and all through the playoffs. Whereas the e-book isn’t but closed on Albies’ potential availability within the postseason, his absence for at the least a number of weeks will make it tougher for the Braves to overhaul the Mets within the NL East, and doubtlessly seize a first-round bye. The NL East runner-up is all however assured to be the NL’s high wild card staff and thus is ready to host all three video games (if essential) of the Wild Card Sequence, but Atlanta would clearly like to keep away from these further video games and an additional probability of elimination.
