July 21st, 2024
Rick Farlow
ATLANTA -- The Braves lost much more than a series against the Cardinals on Sunday.
In the morning prior to Sunday’s series finale against St. Louis, Atlanta placed All-Star left-hander Max Fried on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to July 18, with left forearm neuritis.
In the ninth inning of Sunday’s 6-2 loss to the Cardinals at Truist Park, Ozzie Albies left the game with an apparent left wrist injury and postgame X-rays revealed a fractured left wrist. Albies is headed to the injured list and will miss approximately eight weeks.
Albies was injured trying to tag out Michael Siani stealing second when the Cardinals center fielder collided with his glove hand. Manager Brian Snitker and trainers came out to check on Albies, and he quickly walked off the field with the staff.
“The runner hit [his hand] and that’s never good,” Snitker said. “Obviously we’ll put him on the IL, and go through the moves and all that kind of stuff.”
Braves catcher Travis d’Arnaud made the throw to second in an attempt to nab Siani.
“The throw was up the [second base] line a little bit and [Albies] went to reach for the ball and the runner was there,” d’Arnaud said. “Right away he grabbed his hand or his wrist or whatever it was. It didn’t look good. I tried to walk out there and see if he was alright, but obviously it wasn’t good. He knew. He was walking off the field right away.”
The Braves have not announced a corresponding move for Albies, but they will likely call up Triple-A Gwinnett infielder Nacho Alvarez Jr., according to MLB.com’s Mark Bowman. Alvarez, who is rated Atlanta's No. 5 prospect per MLB Pipeline, has a 1.007 OPS with seven home runs and 24 RBIs in 28 games for Stripers.
Atlanta did recall left-hander Dylan Dodd in a corresponding move to the Fried injured-list placement.
Fried, who threw a scoreless inning for the National League team in the All-Star Game, felt discomfort in his forearm prior to his All-Star appearance, but he wasn’t concerned until he returned to Truist Park on July 19 and the discomfort was lingering. Fried subsequently underwent an MRI that showed nerve irritation but no soft-tissue damage.
“Before the All-Star Game I was warming up like I normally do, doing some arm circles,” Fried said. “I felt something and didn’t think much of it. In this game you feel things all the time. Normally they go away. I didn’t feel like I was in any jeopardy of really hurting myself. I was able to get through. I felt good.
“I took the day off after the [All-Star] game to travel home and all that. I came in [to Truist on July 18] and played catch and still was feeling it. At that point [I thought] I probably should say something. I got tests done. Everything structurally looks great. I just irritated a sensory nerve. Hopefully I’ll be back soon.”
Fried is 7-5 with a 3.08 ERA in 108 innings this season, with 95 strikeouts and 34 walks issued. In his most recent start, he held the D-backs to one run in six innings, though he took the loss in a 1-0 defeat.
Fried, who said he’d never dealt with such an injury, described the feeling in his forearm.
“It’s a little different, I would say,” Fried said. “It’s just a little bit of slight burning. That’s on-par with some slight nerve discomfort. It’s very different [than my forearm strain from last year].”
The three-time Gold Glove Award winner did not give a timetable for his return.
“Everything that has been conveyed to me is [the IL stint] will be on the shorter end,” Fried said. “I’m not planning on it being a lengthy absence.”
Fried, who will be a free agent following the 2024 season, is 69-31 with a 3.04 career ERA in 157 games (140 starts), all for Atlanta.
The Braves have been plagued by injuries, with 11 of their players from the Opening Day 40-man roster on the IL, with four of them on the 60-day IL.
“It gets to a point where it’s kind of over the top a little bit,” Snitker said. “Depth will cover to an extent but after a while it’s hard.”
“It stinks,” d’Arnaud said. “It’s not something that you hope would happen. Obviously it’s something you plan for. When things like this happen the next guy always steps up and is ready to play. In reality, if you look at it, we’re still 10 games over .500 and we still have 60 games to go. Anything can happen. I’ve seen crazier.”
