Brian Snitker revealed some unfortunate news about Ozzie Albies, who had come out of Sunday's game against the Mets. The Atlanta Braves All-Star 2B, who had played the first 117 games of the Braves season, will have to go on the IL with a hamstring injury.
Ozzie Albies will go on the IL
— Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) August 15, 2023
It's a disappointing turn of events for the Braves and Albies. After struggling with injuries throughout the majority of the 2022 season, Albies had been an iron horse up until Sunday's game.
Albies' health hasn't been the only turnaround this season, After having a 93 wRC+ in 2022, Albies currently has a 120 wRC+ this year, slashing .267/.327/.514 and hitting 28 bombs, two shy of his career-high.
Who will play 2B with Ozzie Albies injured?
While Brian Snitker did not commit to Ozzie Albies' replacement on the roster, there are a few options the Braves could go with.
Currently, the only infielders on the 40-man roster right now are Vaughn Grissom, Braden Shewmake, and Luke Williams.
Shewmake has been underwhelming with the bat this year, slashing .229/.303/.414, but has positive reviews with the glove. Williams has been slightly better, slashing .251/.343/.396.
And of course, there's the seeming favorite, Vaughn Grissom. Grissom has been on fire with the bat recently. For the season, the 22-year-old has slashed .327/.412/.494. He has a 36-game on-base streak and has slashed .351/.467/.545 in that span.
Vaughn Grissom finished with a double and a walk to extend his on base streak to 36 games. He’s hitting .351/.467/.545 with a 17.6% walk rate and 14.7% strikeout rate in that span. He has committed two errors in that span and none in his past 31 games
— Garrett Spain (@BravesMILB) August 14, 2023
Of course, who gets the call-up depends on who the Braves see getting the bulk of the starts at 2B. Nicky Lopez's two starts with the Braves couldn't have gone better. The new Brave has seven hits in 10 ABs. He also offers Gold Glove-level defense.
If the Braves go with Lopez getting the bulk of the starts, it's possible the Braves go with Shewmake or Williams (or Charlie Culberson). However, if the Braves want the call-up to get most of the starts, it will likely be Grissom.