ATLANTA -- Braves manager Brian Snitker said Austin Riley would have likely been activated from the injured list on Tuesday had the team been preparing for a playoff game.
“I think it’s just smart to piggyback with [Thursday’s off-day,]” Snitker said. “Hopefully, Friday he wakes up, does everything and is ready to go.”
Unfortunately for the Braves, this was just another reminder that for the first time since 2017, they are approaching the season’s final couple of months without a legit chance to reach the postseason. They fell 12 games under .500 (44-56) with a 9-0 loss to the Giants on Tuesday night at Truist Park.
While Riley should return to the lineup on Friday against the Rangers, the Braves will have to wait at least another month before Chris Sale can come off the 60-day injured list. Their injury-depleted rotation will also be without Spencer Schwellenbach through at least the end of August. So, there will likely be more nights like Tuesday, when Davis Daniel allowed five runs over five innings.
The Braves can hope that Riley’s return will increase the odds that the offense will compensate for the team’s pitching woes. Atlanta averaged 6.3 runs over its previous nine games before being blanked on Tuesday.
Seven of those games have been played since Riley strained a lower abdominal muscle while making a throw across his body during a July 11 game in St. Louis. But the two-time All-Star’s presence should further bolster a lineup that has continued to thrive despite Nacho Alvarez Jr. producing a .555 OPS (28 plate appearances) while playing third base in Riley’s place.
Snitker once said he would never remove Ronald Acuña Jr. from the leadoff spot. But with Acuña not stealing bases as frequently as he did before suffering a second ACL tear last year, it made sense to move him to the third spot and Jurickson Profar to the leadoff spot on July 12.
Acuña has continued to thrive in this spot, constructing a 1.027 OPS over the past seven games. So, when Riley returns, Snitker plans to fill his first three spots with Profar, Matt Olson and Acuña.
“I like [Acuña’s] mindset at three because he has been taking some walks,” Snitker said. “Credit to him, especially when Riley went down, that there was a big hole in our lineup.”
When Alvarez briefly replaced the injured Ozzie Albies as the Braves’ second baseman after last year’s All-Star break, he created concerns about his ability to play a middle infield spot and handle big league pitching.
But while the jury remains out about Alvarez’s bat, he's impressed with his glove at third base. At the same time, he’s given the Braves reason to think about him serving as a utility player.
“That’s probably going to be his role, to be the Swiss Army knife,” Snitker said. “If he can play all over the infield, it’s going to help the value he has for a club.”