LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – The broken elbow that ended Braves second-base prospect Ozzie Albies’ season during the Double-A playoffs also will cause him to miss about half of the Grapefruit League schedule in spring training.
Braves manager Brian Snitker said Albies, who had September surgery to repair the fractured olecranon bone at the tip of his right elbow, is recovering well, but has not been cleared to do full hitting and throwing. He’s been hitting lightly tossed balls and progressing in a throwing program.
Albies, 20, had been considered a candidate for the Braves’ opening-day second base job until his unusual injury, when he broke the bony tip of his elbow while taking a swing at an inside pitch.
“He had the surgery and he’s on a rehab program, pretty much,” Snitker said. “It’ll be a few weeks before he’s in games. He’s going through the process and they have a program mapped out for him, so he’ll be a little behind. But the biggest thing is just getting him healthy and not trying to rush him.
“He’s a young kid. It’ll be hard for him, I’m sure, to tone it down a little bit, because he’s an aggressive kid that wants to play. But the medical staff has a program and they’ll stick to it, and that’ll work.”
The Braves signed versatile veteran Sean Rodriguez in November and intended for him to the primary second baseman until Albies was ready, then the team traded for 35-year-old former Gold Glove second baseman Brandon Phillips on Sunday after learning that Rodriguez would need shoulder surgery for an injury sustained in a Jan. 28 car crash.
The 5-foot-7 Albies was among the early arriving Braves position players already in camp Tuesday, and his chiseled physique suggested the elbow certainly hasn’t slowed him in the weight room. But working out and playing baseball are entirely different things when it comes to stressing elbow and shoulders.
“He hasn’t really torqued a ball yet (hitting),” Snitker said. “And obviously with a (surgically repaired) elbow, turning double plays, different angles and everything, that’s one of those things where you want to make sure before he starts doing that kind of stuff.”
Snitker said Albies had been doing mostly “light stuff, and a throwing program to build strength. But he looks great, though. My God. He’s short, but he’s a powerful guy. He’s built. Strong kid.”
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