Braves’ Ozzie Albies Fractures Left Wrist, Expected to Miss 6-8 Weeks
The Atlanta Braves are dropping like flies, as their roster suffered another devastating injury blow on Sunday.
Amidst a 6-2 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals, the Braves also lost their everyday second baseman, Ozzie Albies, who departed with an apparent left wrist injury in the top of the ninth inning, which X-rays later revealed as a fracture. Now, he’ll likely miss upwards of eight weeks.
Atlanta placed the three-time All-Star on the 15-day IL prior to Monday’s series opener versus the Cincinnati Reds at Truist Park.
Albies injured his left wrist while attempting to tag Cardinals outfielder Michael Siani during a stolen base attempt at second. But the throw from behind home plate ended up in centre field after his glove collided with the base runner.
The 27-year-old infielder immediately grabbed his wrist following the collision before leaving the field with team trainers.
“The runner hit [his hand] and that’s never good,” manager Brian Snitker told reporters post-game Sunday, including MLB.com’s Rick Farlow. “Obviously we’ll put him on the IL, and go through the moves and all that kind of stuff.”
Adding insult to injury, Atlanta also placed left-handed starter Max Fried on the 15-day IL, retroactive to July 18th, with left forearm neuritis just a few hours before first pitch. With Albies set to join him, the club’s lengthy injury report will welcome two more notable names to the list.
That group includes last season’s NL MVP Ronald Acuña Jr. (torn ACL), ace Spencer Strider (Tommy John surgery) and centre-fielder Michael Harris II (hamstring).
With Albies out indefinitely, the Braves have selected the contract of infield prospect Nacho Alvarez Jr. – the franchise’s No. 5 top prospect per MLB Pipeline. The 21-year-old has only played on the left side of the diamond in his young professional career, but he’ll likely transition to the opposite side upon making his MLB debut.
Atlanta also looked outside the organization to shore up its infield depth, signing veteran Whit Merrifield – released by the Philadelphia Phillies earlier this month. They then designated outfielder Forrest Wall for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster.
Following a productive 2023 season in Toronto, Merrifield struggled mightily during his brief tenure with Philadelphia, slumping to a .199/.277/.295 slash line with only three home runs, 11 RBIs and a 65 wRC+ in 53 games.
The 35-year-old, who signed a one-year deal worth $8 million over the off-season, accounted for -0.3 fWAR after being worth a 1.3 rating over 145 games during his final campaign with the Blue Jays.
Both Alvarez and Merrifield will attempt to fill the void left by Albies, who had posted eight home runs and 46 RBIs while hitting .258/.310/.407 in 90 games this season. He recorded an even 100 wRC+, equating to a league-average figure.
Last season, the switch-hitting infielder enjoyed career-highs in home runs (33), RBIs (109), SLG (.513), ISO (.233), wOBA (.358) and wRC+ (124) across 148 contests. His 4.0 fWAR finished tied as the second-highest rating of his career, behind only his 4.2 rating in 2019.
-Thomas Hall
Twitter: @Hall_Thomas_
Photo: Ian D’Andrea. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.