Braves Top Prospect Cleared To Play
Atlanta Braves top prospect Ozzie Albies has been dealing with an elbow injury since September, but has now been cleared to play!
On September 7, 2016, while playing for the Mississippi Braves (Double-A) Albies took a swing at a pitch high and tight on his hands. Next thing you know, he has a fractured elbow. The 20-year-old has immediate surgery with Dr. James Andrews to repair the fractured olecranon bone on the tip of his right elbow.
Since then, we’ve been waiting the news of when Albies will be returning to the field. Well, that time is now!
Ladies and Gentlemen…thanks to Albies agency, we’ve learned that Dr. Andrews gave Albies and the Braves the “green light” to play again.
@albiesozhaino got the green light from Dr. Andrews today. May see game action tomorrow! 👏🏽🙏🏽@mlb @braves @MLBPipeline @MLBNetwork #letsgo
— SportsMeter (@SportsMeter) March 8, 2017
This is fantastic news on a Wednesday! And now we could possibly see Ozzie back on the field for the Atlanta Braves on Thursday.
Atlanta Journal Constitution’s David O’Brien tweeted out yesterday that Albies was supposed to have the doctors appointment on Monday, but scheduling got screwed up. It wasn’t Albies wrong doing or the Braves, it sounded as though Dr. Andrews had the conflicts.
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Braves manager Brian Snitker told O’Brien … “I was going to play him (Tuesday). He’s ready. He’s doing good. It’s just that in the protocol of how they do things, they want to see you one more time before they turn you loose. But he’s doing everything. He feels great, he’s in great shape, he’s ready to go.”
In 2016, Albies played for both the Gwinnett Braves and the Mississippi Braves. He had a combined .292 batting average with six homers, 10 triples, 33 doubles, 30 stolen bases and 83 runs scored.
The 5’9″ 160-pound second baseman/shortstop is the Braves number two ranked prospect (behind only Dansby Swanson) and the number 10 ranked prospect in the game.
Because of the injury last September, Albies isn’t expected to break opening day 2017 with the Atlanta Braves. Especially now since the Braves brought on Brandon Phillips (and Sean Rodriguez). He’ll most likely start the season with the Gwinnett Braves and find his way into Atlanta prior to the end of the year.
Next: No Reason to Panic With Braves Slow ST Start
Albies will most likely be the Atlanta Braves starting second baseman in 2018 and beyond. But for now, enjoy him on the Atlanta Braves Spring Training roster and hopefully tomorrow’s lineup!