The Atlanta Braves have needed to really test their roster depth this season with a slew of injuries over the last couple of months. It's not what they wanted to see after the struggles of the 2025 season.
However, that's just the nature of professional baseball. Every team has to be able to adapt in those moments. The most recent injury that caused the team to make a roster move was Mike Yastrzemski going down with an elbow injury.
Yaz will be on the IL for at least 10 days due to the elbow inflammation. With his injury, the Braves turned to outfielder Brewer Hicklen to replace him in the meantime.
Brewer Hicklen could be just what the Braves have hoped for, but they still need help
Hicklen took full advantage of his opportunity by going two-for-four in his first game against the Cardinals on Sunday. He helped drive in the third run of the game for the Braves, which ended up being an important run.
St. Louis scored two in the bottom of the same inning to tie the game. If Hicklen hadn't hit an RBI double, the Braves would have been playing from behind. Fortunately, that didn't happen, and Mauricio Dubon drove in the game-winning run.
Hicklen could be exactly what the Braves have needed with a right-handed bat. If he's able to continue hitting well, he would give Atlanta a nice right-handed option off the bench when Yaz and Ronald Acuña Jr. return. He could even allow Acuña to bat in the DH spot a bit to save his legs. That could solve an issue for the Braves. They need to consider adding a DH at the deadline, as Dom Smith has cooled significantly and Atlanta needs more production from that spot.
While it's only a one-game sample size, the Alabama native has hit very well at the minor league level in 2026. The righty has a .300 average over 287 at-bats at Triple-A Gwinnett. He has 16 homers, 55 RBI, 28 walks, 77 strikeouts, and an .882 OPS during that span.
Those numbers are great, except for the number of strikeouts. He'll need to cut down on that to be successful in the long term. He only has 11 total MLB games played in his career, so it's possible that he may be sent back down once injured players return. But Hicklen has a chance to show the Braves he's worth keeping around.
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