Atlanta Braves start the NLCS off Strong

Not all things were warm and cozy after or during the game on Monday evening for the Atlanta Braves.

In his first at bat, Adam Duvall grimaced in pain after fouling a ball off to the right side. He had to be removed from the game and during an in game interview, Braves manager Brian Snitker almost confirmed what we all already assumed.

That being that Duvall’s oblique was the spot injured and it was not something minor. Based of all that, I think it’s fair to assume that Duvall will have to be removed from this roster and be replaced, and in that process, he will no longer be allowed to be on the World Series roster if the Atlanta Braves make it that far, therefore, this is probably the end of his season.

A tough blow, especially when you consider how big Duvall was all year for the Atlanta Braves, despite him struggling so far in the postseason.

The obvious candidate to be put on the roster now is Ender Inciarte. Most likely, that is where the Atlanta Braves are going to go.

Despite his heavy offensive struggles, Ender still has value on this club. He can pinch run, be a late game defensive replacement, and who knows, maybe get a spot start and grab a hit or two?

The conundrum is I do not think the Atlanta Braves have the luxury of including both Ender Inciarte and Nick Markakis on the same lineup, and they certainly can’t put Marcell Ozuna back in the outfield.

So that leaves one of two options, either Austin Riley is about to get moved to left or Cristian Pache is about to see his playing time increase.

Again, their is simply no way that the Atlanta Braves can pencil in both Markakis and Inciarte on a starting lineup at this point. Hopefully some of these other players can step up in Adam Duvall’s apparent absence.