Braves new signing to replace Ozzie Albies can't escape Atlanta's bad injury luck
By Scott Rogust
The Atlanta Braves have been going through it in terms of injuries this season. Stars Ronald Acuna Jr. and Spencer Strider are out for the year. Michael Harris II and Max Fried suffered injuries that will keep him sidelined for the foreseeable future. But on Sunday, things got even worse.
Second baseman Ozzie Albies left Sunday's game against the St. Louis Cardinals with what was determined to be a left wrist fracture. With that, the team is going to be without their middle infielder for approximately eight weeks. With that, the Braves brought in some reinforcements to fill the void in former Philadelphia Phillies and Kansas City Royals utilityman Whit Merrifield. Merrifield was recently released by Philadelphia and didn't waste any time signing a major league contract with Atlanta.
But, it seems the bad injury luck caught up with Merrifield on his first day on the job.
According to multliple Braves reporters, Merrifield took a baseball off one of the fingers in his throwing hand while fielding grounders. Merrifield was checked out by members of the team's training staff to ensure there was no structural damage.
You might not believe it, but it’s true: Whit Merrifield took a ball off a finger of his throwing hand while taking grounders an hour ago, is being evaluated now to make sure there’s no damage.
— David O'Brien (@DOBrienATL) July 22, 2024
As Snitker said, managing to smile, “Can’t make it up….This year is something else.”
Whit Merrifield suffers injury scare in first day on job with Braves
As manager Brian Snitker said, via The Athletic's David O'Brien, you "can't make it up...this year is something else." That is a very accurate response by Snitker, as the bad injury luck seemingly won't go away.
Merrifield notably struggled with the Phillies this season after signing a one-year deal with the team. In 53 games played, Merrifield recorded a .199 batting average, a .277 on-base percentage, a .295 slugging percentage, three home runs, 11 RBI, 21 runs, and 31 hits in 156 at-bats. This was quite the drop-off for Merrifield, considering he made the All-Star team last season with the Toronto Blue Jays, and finished the campaign with a .272/.318/.382 slashline.
If there is any team that can get the most out of their players, it's the Braves. But, we'll have to wait and see if this is a serious injury for Merrifield, if it's short-term, or if it's nothing to worry about at all.
UPDATE (5:08 p.m. ET): According to The Athletic's David O'Brien, the x-rays on Merrifield's hand came back negative, meaning there is no fracture. However, Merrfield is officially deemed day-to-day.
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