Braves protect themselves from another Austin Riley debacle with latest move

The Atlanta Braves haven't seen Austin Riley at third base or in the batter's box since May 12. One of the crucial pieces of the reigning NL East champions' core suffered a left intercostal strain in a matchup against the Mets and has been out of action since. But despite the injury occurring 12 days ago as of this writing, Riley never hit the IL.

Not putting the third baseman on the IL has been a point of criticism for the Braves, though there are some extenuating circumstances behind that. While midseason acquisition Zack Short, a high-end utility man, has filled in for Riley, current minor-leaguer and MLB veteran David Fletcher's connection to the Ippei Mizuhara gambling scandal has blocked the Braves' most likely callup if Riley were to have landed on the IL because of this injury.

But the good news for the Braves is that Riley is on the cusp of returning. Manager Brian Snitker said this week that, while he won't play in the weekend series against the Pittsburgh Pirates, the expectation is currently that he'll return for the start of Atlanta's next series on Monday, May 27 against the Washington Nationals.

Perhaps more importantly, though, the Braves are also seemingly protecting themselves from a situation like this later in the season.

Braves sign Joey Wendle, who could be Austin Riley insurance

On Friday, the Braves signed veteran infielder Joey Wendle, optioning Luke Williams back to Triple-A with the corresponding move. Wendle has played every infield position but first base in his career to this point, most recently starting this season with the rival Mets after spending two full seasons and appearing in 213 games with the Miami Marlins.

Superficially, signing Wendle isn't a huge needle-mover for the Braves and one of the best lineups in baseball. Since the start of the 2022 season with the Marlins and Mets, he's played in 231 games with a .237/.273/.331 slash line with five home runs, 41 doubles and 53 RBI in 726 plate appearances. He's been a passable but possibly sub-average hitter.

The real value for the Braves with Wendle, though, is that infield versatility. If Riley were to go down again, Short wouldn't have to be an everyday third baseman. The same could be said of Orlando Arcia at shortstop or even Ozzie Albies at second base as well.

When the Braves traded Vaughn Grissom for Chris Sale this offseason, it depleted the infield depth in the organization. That's the role that Fletcher seemingly would've played but is currently under investigation for betting with the illegal bookie that Mizuhara used. Now, having Short and Wendle together in the building gives Atlanta some breathing room to weather any future injuries.

And in that light, it makes sense why Alex Anthopoulos would want to ensure that. The Braves have been snake-bitten with injuries at points this season with Spencer Strider, Riley, and most recently top prospect AJ Smith-Shawver all missing substantial time due to injuries. Thus, protecting themselves from future injuries is probably top of mind, which makes the Wendle signing make even more sense.