All-Star 2B Ozzie Albies return to the Braves lineup didn’t last two games. After Friday night’s victory in the first game of the weekend series against the Phillies, the anticipation and excitement about the return of the native of Curacao was buzzing all throughout Braves Country.
Now, the Silver Slugger award winner will more than likely miss the remainder of the regular season after a slide into second base during the fourth inning left him with a fractured pinky finger.
Albies returned to the Braves lineup on Friday after missing the past three months because of a broken left foot suffered in June due to an awkward swing during an at-bat versus the Nationals. In his first game back on Friday night, he went 1 for 4 with a double and knocked in two runs in a Braves victory.
During Saturday night’s contest at Truist Park, Albies settled for a four-pitch walk in his first at-bat and singled to left center in the bottom of the fourth inning. After a fly out to right field by Eddie Rosario, Albies tagged up at first and slid safely into second base but was visibly experiencing discomfort and checking on his finger.
He managed to stay in the game and would score after Ronald Acuna Jr doubled to left field but was replaced in the field by Vaughn Grissom in the top of the fifth inning.
There had been plenty of speculation as to what the Braves were planning to do with the upstart Grissom when Albies was ready to return to the lineup as the top prospect has been extremely solid, hitting .304/.355/.482 with five home runs in 31 games.
Grissom will presumably take over at second base for the rest of the way as it looks like, best case scenario, the 25-year-old Albies will not be available to return until the postseason.
Atlanta (89-55) entered play on Saturday just one game behind the New York Mets for the NL East lead. While they have a comfortable 12-game lead on the first wild card spot, the goal is to win the division and avoid the best-of-three Wild Card round as the team prepares to defend their World Series crown this season.