Month: April 2024

Early Injury Woes:

Throughout a long season, injuries are inevitable. However, the Atlanta Braves seem to have already been bitten by the injury bug. To look at it from a positive standpoint, granted you never want an injury, at least these injuries have taken place at the beginning of the season which allows the players ample time to heal before the postseason.

Sean Murphy: left oblique strain; expected return early May.

Murphy’s injury at the start was definitely a big blow… after all, it was Opening Day. He hadn’t even played a full game. Murphy has proven to be a very useful tool behind the plate and at the plate for the Braves, and while Chadwick Tromp has proven he has what it takes to be a catcher in the Major Leagues, Atlanta will be happy when their All-Star catcher is back and healthy.

Spencer Strider: right ulnar collateral ligament strain; will miss the 2024 season.

Talk about an unexpected injury. No one expected the Braves’ ace to be out for the 2024 season. There were such high hopes for Strider in the coming season, and now there is a large gap to be filled in his place. On April 5th, the Atlanta home opener, Strider had a rough first inning which made the Braves’ staff wonder if he was okay. After an MRI it was announced that Strider had a strain of the ulnar collateral ligament in his pitching arm. It was kept very quiet if he was going to have surgery or not, but on April 13th it was announced that Strider underwent internal brace surgery to repair the strain.

This surgery has been said to have a shorter recovery time than Tommy John Surgery. However, it still requires 12 months at the least to fully recover. There are high hopes that Spencer Strider will be able to pitch at the start of the 2025 season, but nothing is set in stone.

Ozzie Albies: fractured right big toe; expected return early May.

If there was one person on the Braves roster who has the most freak accidents- it would be this guy. During the second inning of Monday’s game (April 15th) against the Houston Astros, Houston’s starting pitcher Spencer Arrighetti’s curveball curved too much and hit Albies on the top of the foot. He was in immediate pain but stayed in for the rest of the game. After the game, they did an MRI and x-rays on Ozzie’s foot and it showed a fracture in the bone of his big toe. He played 7 innings with a fractured toe! Thankfully, Ozzie won’t need surgery. They placed him on the 10-day IL, and isn’t expected to miss more than three weeks.

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Despite injuries to key components of the Altanta Braves team, they are still playing quality games. They are still getting wins, and they are still a strong team. In a way, injuries can help strengthen a team because the players work together to fill in the losses.

GO BRAVES!!

Opening Weekend Success:

Photo: Courtesy @braves

The Atlanta Braves 2024 season is officially underway, and the Braves started off on a positive note by winning 2 out of 3 games against their rivals the Philadelphia Phillies.

With a 9-3 win on Friday and a 12-4 win on Saturday, Atlanta’s offense proved that they did not lose any of their power at the plate. Ozzie Albies hit the Braves’ first home run of the season in the first inning of Saturday’s game, and other home runs soon followed. The Braves were also able to escape run deficits and secure the win. They were almost able to do this during Sunday’s game, however they came up one run short and lost 4-5.

Pitching wise, Atlanta’s starters did pretty well. Spencer Strider went 5 innings in Game One, only allowing three hits and two runs. He also had 8 strikeouts. He did not get the win, however, but the Braves bullpen showed off their arms to keep the Phillies’ bats from doing any damage. In game two, Max Fried had some struggles. He threw 43 pitches over 0.2 innings and surrendered 3 runs. There was a very questionable call from the umpire on a 2-2 count with two outs and the bases loaded that did not go the Braves’ way. If the umpire had made the correct call, Fried wouldn’t have surrendered a single run and could’ve possibly gone a couple more innings. There wasn’t anything wrong with the velocity of Fried’s pitches, his command just wasn’t there. He was hanging pitches and couldn’t command the strike zone. Hopefully, in his next start, he will come out stronger.

Chris Sale made his Braves debut on Sunday’s game. He threw 5.1 innings, had 7 strikeouts, and only allowed 2 runs. It was a bummer that the Braves bullpen could not maintain the lead to secure the win, but it was a very positive start for Sale. And it was exciting to see him pitch a good game.

Unfortunately, on Opening Day, Sean Murphy strained his left oblique with a swing late in the game. He is expected to miss a couple weeks at least. Having Murphy go down after just one game of the season is definitely not something a manager wants, but the positive outlook from it is that he will be healthy late in the season when the playoffs are right around the corner. Thankfully we have dependable d’Arnaud who is capable of catching multiple games in a row.

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As always, the Atlanta Braves are exciting to watch, and I am excited to see what the 2024 season has in store for them!

GO BRAVES!!