After going his first 59 games without a home run, Atlanta Braves infielder Nacho Alvarez Jr. finally mustered enough strength to the ball over the wall. Two at bats later, Alvarez did it again, and the very next at bat, the 22-year-old capped off a career game with a game-tying RBI single with two outs in the ninth inning.
After months of struggling at the big league level, this looked like Alvarez's breakout game. So naturally, it was shocking on Sunday morning to see not his name penciled into the lineup at third base, but journeyman infielder Vidal Brujan's instead.
Initially fans were shocked that manager Brian Snitker would sit him after a career game, but the Braves media quickly reported an injury that is very much in line with how the 2025 season has gone.
Nacho Alvarez is out of the lineup because of a cut on his thumb. No stitches. Just something he noticed after yesterday’s game
— Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) September 21, 2025
Nacho Alvarez Jr. misses finale against Tigers with bizarre injury
This isn't Nacho's first bizarre injury of the season. At the beginning of spring training, the young infielder suffered a wrist injury that mysteriously knocked him out for months. Once he returned, he suffered an oblique injury.
However, since being called up, Alvarez Jr. has been relatively injury free (aside from some side soreness that he sat for in early August). With his bat struggling to get going, Brian Snitker has sat him from time to time in place of Vidal Brujan, but after a career game where Alvarez went 3-4 with two homers and three RBIs, Braves fans were fully expecting the youngester to get another start this afternoon.
Instead, a cut on his thumb has knocked him out of the lineup. According to Mark Bowman of MLB, Alvarez noticed the cut after the game yesterday but didn't require stitches. Hopefully, the third baseman won't have to miss too much time with the end of the season approaching. Alvarez seems to have no idea how he cut his thumb, but did say that it wasn't from celebrating.
For the Braves, however, it's just par for the course after the team has suffered bizarre injury after bizarre injury. With a week to go, the Braves might need to bubblewrap their players.