Yesterday was the second consecutive Sunday afternoon where disaster struck and astar player was hit in the hand for the Atlanta Braves. Luckily, it doesn't seem like Michael Harris II suffered the same fate as Austin Riley.
Michael Harris listed as day to day after HBP
Harris took a pitch off his hand against the Nationals and while he tried to stay in the game, he was ultimately pulled. Luckily, Harris’ X-rays came back negative and manager Brian Snitker said he would be listed as day to day. Should Harris not be in the lineup much over this series with the Minnesota Twins Jared Kelenic to play the bulk of the time in centerfield.
With the Twins and Phillies coming up, the Braves are going to need to be at as full strength as possible. There is still a real chance that Harris could miss a game or two, but it does feel as though Harris dodged a bullet.
Brave sign Harold Ramirez to minor-league deal
According to the Braves transaction page they signed former Nationals outfielder Harold Ramirez to a minor league deal a few days ago. Ramirez hasn’t played since early August with Washington and is batting .261 in the majors this year with 238 AB’s.
Ramirez had his best season last year with the Tampa Bay Rays. Ramirez had a .313/.353/.460 slash line with the Tampa Bay in 2023. However, unless some strange developments occur with the Harris injury, we don’t expect Ramirez to get a call to the big league club anytime soon. He figures to remain below Eli White and possibly others in the outfield depth pecking order.
Fans and media perplexed at Snit’s bullpen choice yesterday
In the seventh inning of a tie game with a pretty rested bullpen, manager Brian snicker decided to go with Luke Jackson out of the pen. This immediately backfired as a struggling Jackson gave up the lead for good as the Nationals went on to win by a 5-1 score. After the game MLB.com reporter Mark Bowman asked snicker why Chavez wasn’t used in that role instead.
Snit basically informed everyone that Chavez wasn’t viewed as a high leverage reliever. Still it feels odd to not view Chavez that way, but instead have that trust in Luke Jackson, who has struggled since coming over at the trade deadline. Other options like Joe Jimenez, Aaron Bummer, and Dylan Lee seemed like a much clearer choice. It has to be said we never know exactly who is available on any given day like the manager does; however, Jackson and Chavez are pretty clearly the last two guys in the bullpen hierarchy as of right now.
In a tightly contested playoff race every winnable game the Braves drop could come back to bite them. Let’s hope that isn’t the case for yesterday’s ball game.