Less than two weeks remain until Opening Day, and the Atlanta Braves have avoided injuries quite well. On Sunday, though, they had a fright when Boston right-hander Chase Shugart hit Orlando Arcia in the wrist with a pitch in the sixth inning. Arcia exited the game so that his wrist could be X-rayed.
Mark Bowman of MLB.com says that Arcia felt better on Monday and that the results of the X-rays were negative. Arcia will still have an MRI to confirm that she does not have a fracture.
When Arcia was hit in the wrist by a pitch during a Reds game in April of last year, he encountered a similar circumstance. After a negative result from the X-rays, an MRI examination identified a microfracture. Before going on the injured list, he was able to return on May 7 without having to complete any rehabilitation.
The Braves don’t have much depth behind Arcia in case he gets hurt and has to miss a considerable amount of time, so perhaps this is just a precaution this time. This summer, the organization traded Braden Shewmake to the White Sox in exchange for Aaron Bummer’s return, and then dealt Vaughn Grissom to the Boston Red Sox in exchange for Chris Sale.
Luis Guillorme and David Fletcher are both in camp and competing for one of the final bench spots. Guillorme looks like nothing more than a stopgap at shortstop. Fletcher has seen plenty of time at shortstop in his career, but has an 86 wRC+ for his career as a hitter.
Leave a Reply