The Atlanta Braves have been decimated by injury this season.
The Braves are missing multiple members of the major league roster in catcher Sean Murphy (oblique), starting pitcher Spencer Strider (elbow), third baseman Austin Riley (intercostal), and relief pitcher Tyler Matzek (elbow). Using “decimated” to describe Atlanta’s injury situation seems extreme, but in the historical context of one out of every ten, it’s pretty spot-on given that it’s four players off of the 40-man roster.
And just as the Braves are set to return both Murphy and Riley to the lineup as soon as Monday night, there’s another injury for Atlanta to contend with: Ronald Acuña Jr., who left Sunday’s game with “left knee soreness” after falling down awkwardly on the basepaths in the first inning. Acuña likened what he felt to his 2018 knee injury, where he hyperextended his left knee and missed approximately a month before returning.
Acuña admitted after the game, with coach Eddie Perez interpreting, that he expects to miss the same amount of games as 2018 and that he’s getting an MRI on Sunday night after the team returns to Atlanta.
If Acuña is out until (roughly) the end of June, how do the Braves replace him in the lineup? Let’s look at the options.
The first adjustment for Atlanta is the most obvious - stop platooning in left field. This is what manager Brian Snitker did after Acuña left today’s game, with Duvall moving from left to right field and Jarred Kelenic entering the game in Acuña’s leadoff spot and playing left field.
(Kelenic acquitted himself well, too, going three for four with three runs scored on Sunday afternoon, while Duvall homered in the 8th inning.)
The duo has combined to bat .225 in left field, hitting seven home runs and scoring twenty-one times in the team’s first fifty games of the season.
One interesting strategic wrinkle - both men have been some of the preferred pinch hitters so far this season, with the pair combining for twenty of Atlanta’s twenty-nine pinch-hit plate appearances this season. With both playing every day, another option will need to be found to give those pinch-hit at-bats to. Catcher Travis d’Arnaud has pinch-hit five times, mostly (but not exclusively) for backup Chadwick Tromp, and may have more opportunities to do so with Sean Murphy’s expected injured list activation coming during the next homestand.
Who does Atlanta go to for a bench outfielder?
The Braves started the season carrying five outfielders, with Forrest Wall rewarded for his offseason work and spring training offense with an Opening Day roster spot. But after getting just one at-bat during the team’s first seventeen games, he was optioned to Triple-A Gwinnett to get everyday playing time.
(And that playing time has gone well - Wall is batting .308/.422/.495 with Gwinnett this season and has 23 runs scored in his 29 games for the Stripers. His six stolen bases on the season give him sole possession of 2nd in Gwinnett history, with only Jose Costanza’s 88 from 2011-2014 ahead of him. He’s hit four homers for the Stripers, with his next leadoff homer putting him ahead of Ozzie Albies' 2016-2017 stay with the team for most in team history.)
If the Braves decide to have Wall continue playing every day in Gwinnett, other outfielders on the 40-man roster include J.P. Martínez and utilityman Luke Williams, who has 261.2 career MLB innings in the outfield, mostly left (181.1) and center (73.1).
Martínez would be an interesting option - the 28-year-old outfielder was acquired via trade this offseason from the Texas Rangers, where he got about 40 at-bats on their 2023 roster but was expendable with the anticipated promotions of prospects Evan Carter and Wyatt Langford.
He’s shown less power in Gwinnett than Wall, hitting only three homers with a .404 slugging percentage, but there’s belief that he could eventually be an ideal fourth outfielder as someone defensively sound with good contact ability.
Zack Short, who has been filling in for Riley at third base, and newly-acquired Joey Wendle both aren’t considered to be potential outfield options. Short has played only eight major league innings (and only 130 minor league ones) on the grass, while the 34-year-old Wendle hasn’t been asked to play more than one inning at a time in the outfield since 2018, when Tampa Bay threw him in left field for thirteen starts and 112.1 innings.
Moreso than any other major league team, it might not matter who Atlanta calls up to man the bench during Ronald’s anticipated absence - they probably won’t play either way.
Barring injury or blowouts, Atlanta doesn’t typically rest their lineup regulars during the season. The only everyday position player (so, outside of the left field and catching platoon) to get a “maintenance day” out of the lineup that wasn’t for health reasons was shortstop Orlando Arcia, who was not in the starting lineup on April 15th against Houston and then entered the lineup as a pinch-hitter in the 8th inning anyway.
While the choice of who mans the bench during Ronald’s absence matters on the margins - pinch-hit or pinch-run appearances, any surprise injury to one of the starting outfielders - it’s a safe bet that the called-up player might not see much (or any) action either way.
