Under The Knife 7/22/24
For Gerry
Early in my writing career, I often made the mistake of taking shots at people when I didn’t have to. The imposter syndrome was strong and things that shouldn’t have been said were said. Gerry Fraley was one of those people and I couldn’t have been more wrong. That guy loved sports, loved his kids, loved his life, and loved his readers. He could have been bitter that I said a stupid thing once and held a grudge for years but instead, he asked my side of the story, why I thought that, and ended up becoming a friend. I’d explain some injuries to him and he’d teach me about being a better sports writer. Seeing him in Arlington was always a highlight.
Seeing him in Cooperstown? That’s even better.
This one’s for Gerry. On to the injuries:
MAX FRIED, SP ATL (inflamed forearm)
The Braves seemingly have an endless supply of young power arms. They don’t, so losing Max Fried, their de facto ace, is never a good thing. Ulnar neuritis is similar to what kept Gerrit Cole out at the start of the year and depending on the location and symptoms, even if it’s cleared up, the rehab has to be careful to keep whatever impinged the nerve from doing so again. That could mean a lengthy IL stay.
There are newer therapies and Cole shows they don’t all have to be surgical and long term. With the age-30 pitcher about to hit free agency, my guess is he’ll be heading for a consult with one of the top surgeons, just to have the process closely monitored. For the Braves, they just want to get Fried back and pushing for the playoffs, but it’s been a very rough year in terms of injuries, so I’ll be curious to see what this very smart front office does to make sure it doesn’t happen again next year.
The Braves still have Chris Sale - who they’ve kept healthy and effective - at the top and an oddly constructed rotation of young and old. The problem now is that with both Spencer Schwellenbach and Hursten Waldrep up (and on the IL for the latter), there’s just not much left, even two layers deep. Dylan Dodd gets the call up for now, with AJ Smith-Shawver about the only ready arm left unless you really like Ian Mejia.
OZZIE ALBIES, 2B ATL (fractured wrist)
Losing an ace is bad. Losing another star player on the same day is worse. Ozzie Albies joins his pal Ronald Acuna Jr on the IL and it will be about two months, putting the end of the regular season in some jeopardy. There’s no detail on exactly which bone in his wrist was fractured, nor is there any indication he’ll need surgery. It was an odd mechanism, on a sliding tag, and simply unlucky. I can’t find any other injuries like this, with most slide injuries being spike-related.
Wrist injuries tend to sap some power, not a big strength for Albies to begin with so that shouldn’t be an issue. Same with fielding and assuming no more bad luck tags, Albies should be ready to play in full once he’s active. The eight week timeline tells me the Braves know something, though I couldn’t get a source to tell me what that is. Yet. Normally a 6-8 week quote, the fact that this is on the long end and specific is notable.
The Braves call up yet another young player in age-21 shortstop Nacho Alvarez. Alvarez was in High-A all of last year and started this season in Double-A. He’ll likely backup Zack Short, due to him never having played 2B (in organized ball, at least.) Moving Orlando Arcia over is an option as well. With the trade deadline coming, former 2B Jazz Chisholm is an intriguing option as well. (Late word is that Whit Merrifield will join the Braves, though he was released by the Phils for a reason.)
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