Braves outfielder Ender Inciarte seemed close to a return at the tail end of the regular season, but was ruled out of action for the NLDS after reporting continued discomfort when he tried to ramp things up. He had continued working toward a potential return in the event that the club advances, but that effort now seems all but over.
Inciarte has been nursing a hamstring injury, but he has now also come down with a quad malady. As MLB.com’s Mark Bowman tweets, the belief now is that the veteran outfielder has no realistic hope of returning to the field of play in 2019 — even if the club is able to advance.
That’s a disappointing development for the Braves, whose NLDS roster — and potential future NLCS and World Series 25-man lists — would look a lot better with a full-strength Inciarte. The club would also dearly love to have Charlie Culberson and/or Johan Camargo available. Without these versatile and established performers, the Braves felt compelled to carry an additional position player (Rafael Ortega, for the NLDS) rather than an extra pitcher. That may not be possible in a seven-game series.
While Inciarte would’ve preferred to finish out the campaign in uniform, he’s still likely to return for another go in 2020. The Braves will owe him $7MM next year and $8MM in 2021, with a club option to follow. It’s possible Inciarte could be dangled in trade talks, depending upon the club’s other moves, but he’s still a highly useful and cost-efficient piece that seems to fit the Atlanta roster.
Honestly, I don’t think we are missing much offensively here. And his defense isn’t so much better than the next guy to justify his brutal bat
His defense isn’t much better than the next guy? Seriously? How many gold gloves does he have compared to the rest of the outfielders on his team? Think before you post.
Hmm…hamstring injuries don’t affect CF defense nor creep up, do they? No sense risking a postseason roster spot when his offensive upside is minimal.
That would be 3 Gold Glove awards by Ender Inciarte. Markakis has one (last yr)
Duvall doesn’t have one, but his defense is GG-caliber.
I was reading comments here like 3/4 into the season on how Braves were gonna roll over every team on the playoffs.. Make no mistake, the Cards are gonna give them all they want and then some! Gonna be a heck of a postseason!!
Braves in 3
The Cards will only win if the terrible umpire crew chief makes another nonsense infield fly rule call like he did the last time the Cards played a playoff game in Atlanta. How can you call infield fly rule on a ball that nobody catches and clearly lands in the OUTfield anyways?
Simmons “infield fly” traveled farther than any other infield fly in the history of the game. It was a horrible call then and is still a horrible call now.
The infield-fly call, the three errors, and debris on the field…it just wast a terrible beat for Chipper to end his career on. That probably bothers me more than simply losing a game.
Braves are not very good but damn it, If they lose again…especially to the Cardinals…again, it would be super frustrating.
In case you wondered 2hundred is formerly known as Allourgodshaveabandonedus…
I was wondering where he went…..
Braves fans. Please. Have a very good team and still whine about the past. Typical
I don’t know who you’re a fan of, but send one of your eventual HoF players out in the last game of their careers on a garbage call like that, and let’s see how you feel. It’s quite a bit different to get the shaft on the short end of a borderline bad call in a game in the middle of June than it is to watch your team get eliminated on a bad call so obvious that anyone with a pair of eyes could’ve made it.
Actively rooting against the Braves for leaving Teheran off of the NLDS roster. What a slap in the face.