MIAMI — The Braves on Thursday placed Kyle Wright on the 15-day injured list with right shoulder inflammation, as expected. They recalled Dylan Dodd to start Thursday’s series finale versus the Marlins.
Wright flew back to Atlanta for further evaluation Thursday. After the win over the Marlins, manager Brian Snitker didn’t yet have an update.
The Braves expect to have an update on Friday, when they begin a series with the Orioles at Truist Park.
This is a tough situation for Wright, who had been optimistic about what he could do with a fully healthy shoulder after a January cortisone injection.
“He had a rough start to the new year, the whole year,” Snitker said. “When he started throwing, he got set back and missed some time in spring training. I hate it because he was feeling good about things, and why wouldn’t he after the year he had? So I hate it for the kid because he was having fun. He was figuring things out and being a really productive guy for us. It’s a tough loss. Hopefully we can get him well and get him back out there sooner than later.”
Wright, a part of the Braves’ starting rotation, has allowed 12 earned runs over 18-2/3 innings across five starts this season. Before exiting Wednesday’s game early, he still was finding his footing this season.
Now, Wright and the Braves can only hope the tests come back clean and that his timetable for return isn’t grim.
Harris feels lucky injury wasn’t worse
Michael Harris II (jammed right knee) was sore on Thursday. He didn’t play in the win over Miami.
But he feels lucky.
“I was thinking I was gonna have to be carried off the field at first, and that it was going to be the end of my season,” Harris said.
Instead, it seems mild. He’ll continue receiving treatment. He’s day to day.
Harris described the jammed knee as being like a hyperextended knee. There’s no ligament damage, he said.
In the top of the sixth inning Wednesday, Harris ran out a grounder hard and, a couple of steps after touching first base, stumbled. During his tumble, he landed awkwardly on his right leg. It looked bad, and injuries like that seem to look worse than they end up being.
“You never know what might happen, especially because those guys are running so hard,” Snitker said. “... Just kind of hope we dodged a bullet there. It probably scared him more than anything. It scared me.”
Luckily, it doesn’t appear to be anything serious.
“Definitely dodged that bullet,” Harris said.
For d’Arnaud, things ‘pointing in the right direction’
All along, the Braves have said that how Travis d’Arnaud feels after his workouts might be more important than what he feels during them. They have wanted to see how he responds.
It seems like this is going well, as d’Arnaud is beginning to feel better.
“He’s kind of flushing things out, so to speak, when he does more and when he adds activity to his (routine),” Snitker said. “And they told him, it’d be a while and he needed to keep doing it. And so far, so good. It’s good that we brought him on this trip, I think, to where everybody could keep their hands on him and we could control the workouts. It’s pointing in the right direction with him.”
Other injury updates
- Orlando Arcia on Thursday was scheduled to begin taking dry swings – swings without a ball. “That’s a good sign,” Snitker said. Arcia has been throwing and running as he works his way back from a microfracture in his wrist.
- Raisel Iglesias allowed an earned run over one inning Wednesday, his third rehab outing. The Braves were going to evaluate him Thursday, as how he comes out of the appearance is important. Could the Braves get him back during the homestand? “We could,” Snitker said. (Just speculation: If all is well with Iglesias, it seems likely he would return during the coming homestand.)
- Lucas Luetge (left bicep inflammation) is playing catch, Snitker said. He’s been on the injured list since the middle of April.
One funny moment
Baseball often presents funny moments each night.
Here’s one from Wednesday: Catcher Jacob Stallings, a position player on the mound for the top of the ninth, struck out Ronald Acuña Jr. for his first career strikeout.
“I don’t really like to be in those situations,” a smiling Acuña said through interpreter Franco García after the game. “I feel like I kind of get nervous because I don’t know what’s going to happen, and then sure enough, I struck out.”
Acuña laughed at a question about Stallings’ pitches. “They were nasty,” he said.
Stallings threw Acuña a 46-mph pitch for strike one, then a 45-mph pitch for ball one. Acuña then fouled off a 78-mph pitch for strike two before taking a called third strike on an 85-mph pitch. The first two registered as curveballs, the last two as fastballs.
Really, the curveballs were just lobs.
“Anytime a position player comes into pitch, it’s always laughs,” Sean Murphy said. “You don’t know what you’re gonna get. You don’t know if he’s gonna lob the ball or if he’s gonna come in and lob you one, then fire the next one. You gotta stay on your toes.”
Acuña’s teammates were laughing at him in the dugout. Marcell Ozuna was one of them.
“He was nervous,” Ozuna said. “He was telling all of us about that at-bat. He said, ‘I don’t wanna strike out against a position player.’”
Asked if Stallings had better stuff than him, Murphy, a fellow catcher, said: “Watching from the side, I think Stallings might have better stuff than me. He was landing the lobs, which is tricky.”
Reporters laughed at that comment.
“No, people don’t understand,” Murphy said. “To throw that slow and to land it for strikes like he was, that’s an ability.”
