The Atlanta Braves have struggled with prolonged player absences this season. Ace Spencer Strider will miss the entire 2024 season recovering from surgery on his right elbow, and catcher Sean Murphy has missed twenty-two games (and counting) due to an oblique injury sustained in the team’s season opener.
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However, they have also been fortunate with a few players’ injuries. After being hit by a pitch on April 15th while playing the Houston Astros, second baseman Ozzie Albies broke his toe. He was officially activated off the injured list this morning, and he should be back in the lineup when Atlanta opens their weekend series against the AL Central-leading Cleveland Guardians tonight.
Albies has made a remarkable comeback, having just been out of the game for the required ten days. Ozzie, who took batting practice on the field on Monday and has been working out in full this week, could have played if he had been cleared to return earlier than today, according to various mentions made by Braves manager Brian Snitker this week.
Albies no longer had to wait the required ten days for position players to be placed on the injured list.
In light of how long other MLB players have been out with identical injuries, the team’s second baseman’s return is unexpectedly swift. Rob Refsnyder of the Boston Red Sox broke his pinkie toe this spring, missing 21 days of play. His effective IL placement date was March 25 and his return date was April 18. This information is based on the Baseball Prospectus IL Tracker.
Nick Senzel of the Cincinnati Reds had the quickest recovery time out of the seven players who went on the disabled list in 2023 due to a toe injury. He had surgery on the “great toe,” which Albies shattered, and missed fourteen days of the season. Senzel underwent surgery in the offseason, and his recuperation continued into the season, so it’s not a closely relevant situation.
The closest case to Albies from the previous season had an in-season fracture or significant sprain of the toe and involved Reds hitter Jake Fraley. Fraley suffered a fourth toe fracture, went on the injured list on August 4, missed 28 days, and was activated on September 1. Two players have recovered from a toe fracture in the allotted ten days after the 2020 season was cut short: outfielder Max Kepler of the Minnesota Twins in August 2022 and pitcher Merrill Kelly of the Arizona Diamondbacks in May 2021.
But Albies, who left the game against Houston on April 15th and went to the training staff for x-rays after the Braves won, is back and should be back in the lineup for tonight’s game at number two. Before getting hurt, Ozzie was hitting.317/.386/.492 with 14 RBIs and two home runs in 15 games.
David Fletcher was returned to AAA Gwinnett by Atlanta yesterday in anticipation of the activation this morning. In contrast to earlier rumors, he will not be entering free agency and opting out of his contract. Justin Toscano of the AJC discovered that the Braves had an advance consent form that gave them the right to send him to AAA Gwinnett during the first 45 days of the season without offering him the chance to do so and keep the $14 million in salary that he owed over the next two seasons.
