BREAKING: Ozzie Albies officially goes to injured list
As we worried about, the "mild cramping" that caused Ozzie Albies to leave Sunday's series finale against the New York Mets and miss Monday's series opener against the New York Yankees is bad enough to send the second baseman to the injured list, as the Atlanta Braves made the transaction official this morning:
Albies, 26, was an All-Star and Silver Slugger in 2021 who was only able to play in 64 games last season as foot and hand injuries forced him to the IL multiple times. He played in 62 games to open the season, batting .244, before a broken foot in early June sent him to the injured list. He returned on September 16th and got two games in before a broken finger ended his season. He then had a clean-up procedure done over the winter to his throwing shoulder.
Albies was having a scintillating 2023, batting .267/.327/.514 with 28 home runs in the team's first 117 games before being lifted from Sunday night's game. He's thrived since being moved to the #2 spot in the order, batting .280/.345/.550 with 13 HRs & 46 RBIs in the 49 games he played behind Ronald Acuña Jr.
Said manager Brian Snitker after Monday's game: “It’s just something that is going to be more than a day-to-day thing. We just want to take care of it and allow him to treat it.” With a 11.5 game lead in the division, Atlanta has the luxury of giving Albies as much time as he needs without needing to rush him back.
The immediate replacement for Albies looks to be Nicky Lopez. The utility infielder was acquired from Kansas City at the trade deadline and, in limited playtime at short and 2nd, has absolutely thrived. He's the first player to record 7+ hits and 8+ RBIs in his first two starts with a team since RBIs became an official stat in 1920.
An even wilder stat, courtesy of MLB statistician Sarah Langs, is Nicky Lopez's 8 RBIs are the most by a Braves player in his first four games with the team since RBIs were official in 1920...and he only batted in two of those games.
The corresponding move for Atlanta was to call up Vaughn Grissom to the active roster, as we predicted yesterday. The infielder batted .291/.353/.440 in an interim basis for Ozzie last year, appearing in 41 games at second base, although he was benched for Orlando Arcia late in the season and for the postseason.
Grissom's spent time at the major league level this season, as well, as one of the fill-ins for Arcia when he suffered a microfracture of the wrist that held him out for several weeks. Grissom batted .277/.314/.308 in those 19 games, although his defensive struggles and lack of power output caused Atlanta to play other options, like Braden Shewmake, before Arcia finally returned.
In AAA this season, Grissom is absolutely raking, batting .327/.412/.494 w/ 6 HRs and 42 extra base hits in 88 games, divided between SS (61 games) and 2B (28). He's got one error in 112 defensive chances at 2nd, good for a .991 fielding percentage, but still struggled defensively at shortstop with 6 errors and a .905 fielding percentage at short. And in his last 28 games, he's hitting .365 with a 1.043 OPS.
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