This season, the Braves have been dealt a cruel blow time and time again. With Austin Riley out for the next six to eight weeks, yesterday’s news seems to be the last straw for Atlanta.
This season has been an absolute nightmare for injuries, yet the team perseveres. They are 1.5 games ahead of the Mets and 3.5 games ahead of the Giants for the last Wild Card place.
Nobody in Atlanta’s locker room is moping around with 38 games remaining. Gio Urshela is a possible substitute for Austin Riley, and Alex Anthopoulos is making every effort to include him.
Before becoming a free agent in 2023, the 32-year-old struggled in 2023 despite experiencing some success from 2019 to 2022. He only played in 62 games with the Angels last season due to injuries, which gave the Tigers the opportunity to sign him to a one-year, $1.5 million contract.
Considering his performance during those four seasons, Detroit had to be thrilled to acquire a veteran at such a modest cost. Urshela hit 54 home runs in 435 games with the Yankees and Twins, slashing.290/.336/.463 with a wRC+ of 118.
Sadly, Urshela hasn’t been able to duplicate that accomplishment this year with the Tigers. With a dismal slash line of.243/.286/.333, he has only hit five home runs and his 73 wRC+ is 27% below the league average.
But Austin Riley’s possible replacement has been on fire lately, as seen by his 108 wRC+ in August and his slash line of.265/.342/.412. Though it’s a small sample size, the Braves don’t really have any better options.
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