On Monday, June 13th, during the fifth inning, Ozzie Albies was up to bat against Washington National pitcher Steve Cisheck. In a 3-2 count, he took an inside out swing on a ball that was on the inside of the plate. Attempting to run out of the batter’s box, Ozzie appeared to trip. He then immediately fell onto the ground in pain. Being the tough player that he is, he was able to gingerly walk himself off the field, but had to be assisted down the dugout steps.
It wasn’t exactly clear how he hurt himself, but from what I could tell, when he was starting to run out of the batter’s box, his left leg gave way and it twisted as he fell. Immediately after he got into the dugout, he was replaced by Orlando Arcia and evaluated by the training staff. We later found out that Ozzie fractured his left foot in that freaky incident.
This morning, Wednesday June 14th, Ozzie was placed on the 60-day IL and will be out until at least mid-August.
Ozzie Albies provides such a huge spark to the Atlanta Braves’ club. Not only on the field and batting, but also when he is in the dugout and showing his infectious smile all throughout the game. He provides so much joy to this club on a daily basis.
In his absence, Orlando Arcia and veteran Phil Gosselin, who the Braves called up this morning from Triple-A, are going to have some big shoes to fill.
While it’s going to make an impact for the Braves without his bat in the lineup and his superb defense at second base, we also have to take into account the impact it is going to have on Braves shortstop Dansby Swanson.
Swanson and Albies have been together in the Atlanta organization for six years, since Double A. They have grown into a defensive duo bond that few second baseman and shortstops seem to have. Since Ozzie made his debut in 2017, he and Dansby have been shortstop and second baseman along side one another that entire time. They get how each other likes to work and because of that, they know how to throw the baseball, cover the bag, etc. to where it serves both of their best interests. I’m sure it will take Dansby Swanson, as well as the other Braves fielders a little bit of time to get used to someone else playing second base. But at the end of the day, things like this happen and you’ve got to be prepared for it.
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The Atlanta Braves are currently riding a 12-game win streak. For these twelve games, they looked to be untouchable and that nothing could stop them. But, as unfortunate as it is, the injury-bug finally got to them and they will be without their All-Star second baseman for most, if not all, of the summer.
It will be odd watching the Braves play without Ozzie Albies, but hopefully he will have a speedy recovery and will return better than ever.
GO BRAVES!
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