While the Atlanta Braves got a big win on Tuesday night against the Boston Red Sox, they may have lost their three-hole hitter for a while.
In the third inning of the Atlanta Braves 3-1 win over the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday night Marcell Ozuna was thrown out trying to advance to third.
It seemed like a harmless play until you watch Ozuna’s hand go sliding into the foot of third baseman Rafael Devers and see Ozuna’s fingers going in weird directions.
After the game, it was reported that Ozuna dislocated his ring and middle fingers on his left hand.
He’ll return to Atlanta for further evaluation to make sure the damage isn’t worse.
We now know he’ll at least miss Wednesday’s game against the Red Sox, but with the off-day on Thursday there is a chance he could be back for the weekend series against the Mets in New York.
However, there is also the chance this injury is worse and Ozuna misses significant time.
As someone who has dislocated several fingers in the past, they’re all different. I’ve had some when I couldn’t grip a bat for weeks, and others where I was able to play the next day. It really will depend on just how bad the dislocations were and how he responds.
The Braves spent big bucks on Ozuna this past offseason and he hasn’t really delivered so far in 2021. He’s hitting just .213 with a .645 OPS, but he does have 7 home runs and 26 RBI.
Things had picked up a bit lately with 5 hits in his last 14 at-bats.
Even with the struggles, he provides protection in the middle of the order behind Freddie Freeman. To not at least have that presence there for a significant amount time would be a detriment to this team.
Let’s hope it’s nothing serious for Ozuna and he’ll be back this weekend, but it did not look pretty when he left the game on Tuesday.