Braves second baseman Whit Merrifield said a CT scan and MRI revealed he has a small fracture in his left foot after fouling a ball off the area Friday.
It’s an injury Merrifield could play through, however, and he’s hoping to return as early as next weekend when the Braves host the Dodgers.
“It’s a stable fracture, so try to get the soft tissue and swelling and stuff down, and then it’s a pain tolerance thing after that, from my understanding,” Merrifield said. “First, (the doctors) told me (I’d miss) six weeks. So that was not good news (Friday) night. And then (Saturday) morning, after talking to a foot specialist, he seemed to think that once we get the soft tissue and swelling and stuff figured out, I could be back as soon as the Dodgers series.”
“It’s not going to get worse, so it’s once we get the (swelling in the) areas around the break down, it’ll be a pain-tolerance thing.”
If Merrifield can return, that’s a fortunate outcome for the Braves. In the meantime, they have Luke Williams – who’s started recently in Merrifield’s absence – and outfielders Eli White and even Ramon Laureano have done infield work, manager Brian Snitker said. Laureano never has played the infield, but White started three games at second for the Rangers in 2021.
Second baseman Ozzie Albies (fractured wrist) is still working his way towards a return, which could be during the middle-to-late portion of September. Merrifield returning next weekend would greatly help a team that’s continuously lost depth because of injuries.
“It’s a matter of calming everything down and getting him out there,” Snitker said. “He might not be able to do it. I hope that he will, but it’ll be a few days before we can determine that.”
Merrifield has had a difficult week. He was hit by a pitch in the hand Tuesday which resulted in a brief absence. He returned only to suffer this fate. Additionally, Merrifield took a ball off his finger while working out on the field during his first day with the Braves in July.
Despite some bad injury luck, when he’s played, Merrifield has been a pleasant surprise amid a season of the unpleasant. The Braves signed him after Albies’ injury and he’s played 34 games, hitting .243 with a .701 OPS (while providing steady defense). Merrifield hit .199 with a .572 OPS in 53 games with the Phillies, who released him after he struggled adjusting to a part-time role.
Injuries have defined the Braves’ season. (“We’re running out of guys who’ve fractured stuff,” Snitker said). They entered the season viewed as having arguably baseball’s best roster, but they’ve been decimated since, losing almost every regular for some period. The offense, which set records a year ago, has sputtered because of underperformances and those injuries. The pitching has been sensational and kept the Braves afloat, but the battle with the Mets for the third and final wild-card spot seemingly will go down to the wire.
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