Braves third baseman Austin Riley hasn’t taken the field for the club since Sunday’s game against the Mets due to what was described as left side tightness at the time. While he’s spent nearly a week out of commission at this point, he may still be days away from returning to the lineup. The 27-year-old told reporters (including Justin Toscano of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution) that he has yet to resume swinging a bat since he first suffered the injury, which he added that the Braves’ medical staff later termed intercostal inflammation. Per Toscano, Riley did not commit to returning to the starting lineup in time for the opening game of the club’s three-game set against the Cubs in Chicago, which begins on Tuesday.
Should Riley miss Tuesday’s game, he’ll have been out of commission for nine days at that point. Such a lengthy absence would make the club’s decision not to put the slugger on the injured list, which comes with a minimum stay of ten days, a strange one. Even so, Riley indicated that the club has not discussed the possibility of an IL trip with him. IL trips can only be backdated a maximum of three days, meaning that Riley would have to miss at least a week from the day he’s placed on the shelf before he can return.
Manager Brian Snitker also addressed Riley’s absence with reporters today, telling David O’Brien of The Athletic that the club will have to consider a trip to the shelf for Riley if the soreness he’s feeling doesn’t improve in the coming days. O’Brien added that, per Snitker, the club’s hesitance to place Riley on the shelf to this point stems in part from a lack of strong candidates to replace Riley on the roster in the upper levels of the organization. The only position players currently on the 40-man at Triple-A are outfielders Forrest Wall and J.P. Martinez.
While the club turned to utilityman David Fletcher earlier this season to fill in on the bench, Fletcher is no longer on the 40-man roster and is dealing with off-the-field issues regarding reported illegal bets placed on sports other than baseball during his time in Anaheim. That could leave veteran utilityman Leury Garcia as the club’s best option to fill in for Riley should he end up heading for the injured list. Garcia struggled to a brutal .210/.233/.267 slash line in his last taste of big league action back in 2022, when he appeared in 97 games for the White Sox. Despite those abysmal numbers, Garcia has seen some success at Triple-A with the Braves this year, posting a solid 113 wRC+ in 116 trips to the plate.
Adding to the club’s injury woes is the absence of catcher Travis d’Arnaud, who exited yesterday’s game against the Padres due to dizziness after a foul ball struck his face mask. Braves fans received some good news regarding the veteran catcher today, however, as MLB.com’s Mark Bowman relayed that the 35-year-old is feeling much better today, even as he’s been held out of the starting lineup for tonight’s game. Bowman added that d’Arnaud is available to be used on an emergency basis over the next two days and that, as long as d’Arnaud’s improvement continues, he could return to the lineup for the series finale against San Diego on Monday. In the meantime, the Braves will lean on Chadwick Tromp to cover for d’Arnaud behind the plate.
After being demoted to the role of a backup in deference to Sean Murphy last year, d’Arnaud has resumed regular catching duties for Atlanta this season since Sean Murphy was placed on the injured list with an oblique strain just one game into the 2024 campaign. He’s made the most of the additional playing time to this point, hitting an excellent .255/.336/.500 with five home runs in 116 trips to the plate. That being said, it seems as though Murphy could be nearing a return to action in Atlanta in the near future. MLB.com’s Injury Tracker notes that the Braves are currently planning for Murphy has looked good in offensive and defensive drills during his recovery and is set to begin a rehab assignment during this upcoming week. Widely regarded as among the top catchers in baseball on both sides of the ball, the return of Murphy figures to offer a huge boost to the Braves as they head into the summer 3.5 games behind the Phillies for the NL East crown despite a strong 26-15 record.
Forgot about Zack short who has filled in for Riley
Could sign somebody.
i guess you could say that they were short a 3rd baseman
Outside of Marcel Osuna, most of Braves established stars are scuffling, so imagine what will happen when their core guys start playing to career norms.
Braves best years they have taken a minute to heat up once the weather gets to summer they usually take off
teams do this all the time
a guy gets hurt
he didnt twist his pinky, he has a serious ailment that needs to be dealt with. yet they dont put him on the DL. they wait. and they wait. and they wait. sometimes it feels like major league clubs are run by children. not adults. not mature professionals. but children who think they’re playing fantasy baseball
“Teams do this all the time…but children who think they’re playing”…I’m just surprised that a bidding war hasn’t broken out among Major League teams to hire you to run their front office. It’s rather obvious that even with no experience, you know more about it, than the people who’ve been doing it their whole adult lives.
Their whole adult lives, and yet the cubs went 108 years without winning a WS, the phillies went 77 years before they won their first championship, Red Sox went 86 years in betw titles, White Sox 88 years, Mariners have never even won a pennant, and FIVE other teams have never won the WS. The pirates havent won a pennant since 1979, Brewers since 1982, Orioles since 1983. The last time the reds even won any playoff series was 30 years ago. Yet these organizations are run by “people who’ve been doing this their whole adult lives”
If my company went 50 or a 100 years without claiming the most important prize in my industry, or 40 years since getting even remotely close, and i was a contributing factor to that lack of success, then i’d look for another industry to work in. maybe go work with you in your line of work, since you’re such a smart@$$.
Baseball is hard. Harder than the Captain D’s you work at getting “Franchise of the month”.
Hamilton, you’re going there as a representative of Captain Hooks Fish and Chips.
@eyeball710: Classic.
Ironically not putting him on the IL when they should have is hurting those that have him rostered in fantasy baseball.
I seriously doubt MLB front office people spend any time or energy thinking about those who play fantasy baseball.
I want to know when Ronnie Acuna is going to return to his normal self as his slow start has been going on too long and killing my fantasy team
@Motown is My Town
Big picture, guy’s normal slash line should hover around:
0.278 / 0.338 / 0.418
Motown: Nobody but you cares, least of all anyone in the Braves front office.
If you think I’m wrong, send them an email and see if you even get a response.
Blue Baron…are you this big of an A$$#ole in real life or do you just behave like this when you’re anonymously online? WTF dude, get a life, seriously
Wait a sec. You’re on here whining about an injured player KILLING YOUR FANTASY TEAM and telling me I need to get a life?
LOL, that’s a good one. Nobody needs to get a life more than someone who whines about his fantasy team. Seriously.
WTF dude? Look in the mirror before attacking someone for calling out your BS.
Pot, meet Kettle.
Dude my guy is Acuna who IS NOT injured…get your facts straight and stop being the A$$#ole you are. No one like guys like you and your self righteous commentary
Just because you have no friends to play fantasy leagues with is not our fault and obviously you are not smart enough to understand how fantasy sports impact the average fan
Awww. Did I hurt your precious feelings?
You were the guy on here whining about Acuña being hurt, Jack.
And I have plenty of friends in my six fantasy and Rotisserie leagues. In fact, I’ve been playing the game since before the Internet and before you even knew what baseball was, if you were even born yet.
Obviously you are not smart enough to understand that nobody cares less about what goes on in anyone’s fantasy leagues than people who aren’t in those leagues.
No need to waste more breath trying to explain things to you, because you wouldn’t understand.
BB….if you even had a clue in understanding what you read, you’d be a genius! To clarify I NEVER claimed Acuma was hurt. But you’re too full of hot air and $hit to comprehend anything. By the way I’m old enough to have seen Ted Williams and Mickey Mantle hit home runs against my Tigers and Al Kaline. You however do t even know who those 3 players even are, being the Who poster child, Tommy (deaf, dumb & blind) that you are Do everyone on this site a favor and go away as the site does not need toxic guys like you on it as you ruin it for everyone with your pompous bull$#it. Go F$@k yourself!!