The Braves received some soul crushing news yesterday when it was revealed that Ozzie Albies suffered a fractured foot. He has been placed on the 60-day IL, and we don’t yet know if he will return at any point this season. Hopefully, he can, but if we learned anything from last year, it’s that this team is built for adversity.
Everyone remembers the brutal season-ending injury to Ronald Acuña, but that was only one of the many bumps the Braves had to overcome on their way to their first World Series since 1995. Marcell Ozuna was lost for the season following a domestic violence dispute. Travis d’Arnaud missed several months with a torn ligament in his hand. Cristian Pache and Ender Inciarte — both of whom were expected to contribute — ended up in the minors after just a few months. And Mike Soroka re-tore his Achilles, never appearing in a game. Anything that could go wrong, did go wrong for the Braves last season, and they still found a way to hold up the Commissioner’s Trophy when it was all said and done.
Don’t believe me? Just look at the starting lineup they trotted out on June 13th one year ago.
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- Ronald Acuña (RF)
- Freddie Freeman (1B)
- Ozzie Albies (2B)
- Abraham Almonte (LF)
- Austin Riley (3B)
- Ehire Adrianza (SS)
- Kevan Smith (C)
- Guillermo Heredia (CF)
- Drew Smyly (P)
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Knowing what we know now, we can chuckle, but I can assure you, nobody was laughing on this day last year. Braves Country was in a panic, and that was before Ronald Acuña tore his ACL. It just goes to show that it’s a long season. Baseball is a grind, and every team will go through substantial injuries. At some point or another, each player on the 26-man roster will be called upon. The deepest teams are generally the last ones standing, and it’s up to Alex Anthopoulos to continue to improve this roster as much as possible until the final stretch, which he handled magically last season.
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