May 4: As expected, the Braves announced that Wright has been placed on the 15-day IL and that Dodd has been recalled in his place. The team classified Wright’s injury as right shoulder inflammation.
May 3: Braves right-hander Kyle Wright departed tonight’s game after throwing just 55 pitches in two-plus innings, with the club later announcing his ailment as right shoulder soreness. Manager Brian Snitker later told reporters, including David O’Brien of The Athletic, that Wright will go on the 15-day injured list.
To this point, the severity of Wright’s injury isn’t clear, but it’s noteworthy as an ongoing issue. He also dealt with some shoulder soreness during Spring Training, which put him behind schedule and caused him to start the season on the injured list. He eventually was activated and made five starts, including tonight, but will now return to the IL to figure out what’s going on with his shoulder.
Even if that ultimately ends up being a minor issue, the club will need to proceed without him for the next couple of weeks at least. Wright got some brief stints in the majors in each year from 2018 to 2021 but finally broke out last year by posting a 3.19 ERA in 180 1/3 innings. His 23.6% strikeout rate was right around league average but his 55.6% ground ball rate was quite strong.
The rotation should still be in decent shape, even without Wright’s contributions. Spencer Strider, Charlie Morton and Max Fried are well established and Bryce Elder seems to be running with his opportunity so far this year by posting a 1.75 ERA through six starts.
Even before the injury to Wright, the club was planning to give a spot start to Dylan Dodd, per Justin Toscano of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. That was to give everyone an extra day of rest after they played a double-header earlier this week, but Dodd could potentially stick around after that. He made two starts earlier this year, allowing just one earned run in the first but seven in the second. He has a 4.91 ERA in three Triple-A starts on the year. If Dodd isn’t kept around for the next few weeks, the club also has Michael Soroka and Jared Shuster as options on the 40-man roster.
Atlanta also got a bit of a scare when outfielder Michael Harris II departed with an apparent knee injury. The news there is a bit more pleasant as Snitker says they aren’t currently planning to put him on the injured list but will evaluate him some more tomorrow. He’s been struggling this year but in a small sample of just 38 plate appearances due to having spent about three weeks on the IL with a back strain. Last year, he hit 19 home runs, slashed .297/.339/.514, stole 20 bases and provided excellent center field defense en route to winning National League Rookie of the Year honors.
Time for Soroka. Yes I’m aware he just got blasted but he was pitching fine before. One outing just blew up on him, non issue in the big picture. He’s looked good. Time to bring him back up.
An example of when Wright is not right.
Mikey hasn’t pitched in 2.5 years. He’ll be lucky to throw 75 innings in the Majors this season.
Wright’s shoulder is toast. His 2022 was extremely flukey if you take a look under the hood.
Strider has shouldered a lot of the load, but NY beat the mustache off that fool… again.
LoL clowns.
And yet, Mets are looking up at the Marlins and just lost a DH to the Tigers…with Scherzer. DET can’t get a #1 letting them win!
I can clearly see it fills you with a great deal of pride to watch your favorite team spend 364m dollars to hang tough in that 3rd place race, Dr.
I would actually take 75 innings in the majors this year. That means he is healthy enough to make 10-15 starts.
When Soroka gets to his innings limit is the question. The Braves are positioning him for the playoffs.
The Mets beast the stasch off him……again?
ehhh I’m fine with Strider. Enjoy watching history as he torches baseball with his stasch intact..
Clowns? Sure, happy division winning, championship winning joyous clowns sure.
Mets are doing really well. What ? They just lost a double header to the Tigers ? Ha ha enjoy the senior citizen pitching staff.
Clowns
Verlander’s getting roughed up today…
I like turtles
Call up Soroka and don’t stress about Wright until he’s healthy.
Soroka will be lucky to throw 75 innings this season!
Braves have other options as well Sharver looks great in the minors and might be a big September call up.
Aj Smith-Sharver (Shock and Awe) didn’t really pitch that long in high school (like half a year in high school). He is new to pitching. He is a project–same as Muller was. He has blossomed. Last year in low A he was learning to pitch, his pitching mechanics, build up stamina etc. This year in high A he simply made others appear to be not worthy of being on the same field. He is now in AA–but he has really only been pitching a little more than two years. I don’t see them rushing him to the MLB with his level of experience at this point. Strider had pitched all through High school and then in Clemson. Pushing Strider through when dominating is one thing. Anything is possible and shock and awe may get to the MLB this year–maybe. But it seems like getting him through this year in AA and maybe AAA would be a lotto type win got the Braves. Getting to MLB would be crazy historic. Could happen. I wonder if anyone ever made it to the bigs by 19 with less than 3 seasons of pitching…..wow.
“I wonder if anyone ever made it to the bigs by 19 with less than 3 seasons of pitching…wow”
It’s not unprecedented. I’m not sure what you mean by “with less than 3 years of pitching”, but Dwight Gooden was drafted by the New York Mets in the 1st round (5th) of the June 1982 MLB Draft and made his MLB Debut on April 7, 1984 (Age 19-143d).
Fernando Valenzuela was signed by the Dodgers in July 1979, and made his debut late in the 1980 season. In 1981, “Fernandomania” took baseball by storm.
He actually turned twenty in November so a September call up will put him close to 21. If they are ready the Braves go with them.. He might be quite the weapon as an opener or reliver in the playoffs.
Definitely
Yeah yeah Dwight Gooden and Fernando–amazing–but they pitched when they were young. AJ did not–which is why I think it would be amazing to make it to the bigs less than 3 years of ever pitching. Thats seems amazing to me.
I see what you’re saying. I thought you meant 3 years in the minors.
David Clyde was the 1st overall pick in the 1973 Amateur Draft in June 1973. He went straight from high school to the ML w/the Texas Rangers w/out pitching in the minors. This raid of an ascent to the ML wasn’t unheard of during the “bonus baby” days of the 1950’s, but Clyde was the first (and youngest) player to make the jump under the MLB amateur draft system initiated in 1965.
“rapid” not “raid……duh, lol.
Soroka gave up 8 runs on 10 hits in 3 innings the other night. I doubt he gets the call up right now
That was only his most recent outing. The three that preceded it were good outing.
I agree he probably won’t get called up because of that recent outing but it doesn’t change that he should get called up.
Look at it this way, would you rather see him give up 3-4 runs every outing for 4 straight starts or see him give up virtually nothing in 3 starts then give up 8 runs in one anomaly?
It’s one thing to consistently be getting hit and another just to have a bad day.
Same deal with Minter right now. His ERA is going to look very ugly for awhile because of that meltdown he had but 9 times outta 10 he’s locked in.
I agree with this. I would ultimately like to see Soroka get a handful more starts in AAA. I would especially like to see how he rebounds from that ugly start a few days ago. But one bad start should not exclude him from getting a call up….
Minter should find some balance in the back end of the relivers when Inglesias comes back.,
Elder had terrible numbers in Gwinnett to start the year too but we have all seen how that’s gone people tend to forget that it’s not all about winning in the minor leagues these guys are working on certain flaws in their game and those 8 runs on 10 hits are more in line with throwing 15 to 20 straight of the same pitch
Uh when u get pounded in the minors ya it matters. U acting like it’s spring training games
Ya that’s it working on flaws
Nobody is acting like it’s spring training games. We are acting like it’s ONE game. See the difference there?
I love it like that dawg
Cosmo’s got the caboose.
He may have rushed to come back he just has looked off all season long with a noticeable drop in velocity and control. Hopefully he won’t need surgery but if he does he may not pitch until 2025.
The only drop off in velocity was from the first inning to the second inning of tonight’s game.
@Braves if you look at his stats from last year, he had a lot of good luck with Ws and even ERA.
Dylan Dodd will pitch tomorrow night since it’s his turn to pitch and depending on how that outing goes we may see Soroka this weekend or Monday.
Time to call up Rock!!!!
Just shut him down for a couple months. They are so good they don’t even REALLY need him until the playoffs, granted the division could tighten up but they are gonna make it to the postseason. The problem is they can be so dominant like last year but if a couple starters go down at the wrong time their WS hopes could be dashed. Gotta get him healthy. Who knows what Strider will be like in September and October. All I know is Fried has got to stay healthy.
Strider will be the next casualty.
I trust doctors less than trolls.
@Troll Van Nostrand
Another pathetic Mets troll with a ‘changed’ username, probably ‘putitinthebooks’…
@Smacky, fun fact the Mets are not paying any money to Cano this season. Deferred $ has to b funded by teams at time of signing per MLBPA CBA. They re just writing a check from the accrued money to Cano this season.
You responded in the wrong place. They are by definition still paying him obviously. Interesting info tho. Idk why the other guy felt the need to bring it up. But it really doesn’t matter whether one considers it “paying him” this year or not. It has nothing to do with the point of what they were saying. A point which was…pointless.
@Rishi, sorry for whatever reason Smacky didn’t have a reply option under comment. I had to piggyback off of your comment. Yeah these guys like to villafy deferred contracts. They more often than not have no idea how they’re funded or even how accrued interest works.
@Tigers3232: The reason Smacky doesn’t have a reply option under comment is because he’s banned you. He bans any and all of us who dare to disagree w/anything he posts on the site. He’s probably banned as many here as Samuel has. Agree w/those two or else, lol.
Might as well just hand the division to the Mets on a platter after this.
Fun fact: the Braves are paying Kyle Wright 1/29th of what the Mets are paying Robinson Cano for the 2023 season.
Hey Smacky – How’s that Harris contract working out?
LoL Braves. Strider’s next.
Better than Scherzer & Verlander’s!
That seems unlikely lol. Even without Wright, the Mets starters are worse, And the difference between the lineups are as stark as the difference between day and night. Unless Atlanta loses a couple of position players (Acuna/Murphy) or Max Fried, they should roll to a division title.
whocaresaboutdivisiontitles? This is a war of attrition.
yes when was the last time the mets won the WS? I know you weren’t born and your mom’s basement hadn’t been finished for you yet–but yeah.
I don’t disagree with anything you said. I just don’t think division titles matter much with the current playoff format… and reality backs that up.
I was alive. The mom’s basement commentary is trite and unoriginal. You’re better than that. Or maybe you’re not.
Trite and unoriginal sure. Imagine a world where you are in most games win, fight and win your division, each night a different hero, 162 pace of drama and excitement. Then during the playoffs where because baseball anything can happen. Your team loses–does that make it meaningless? Up to each their own. Me I love following my team in a rebuilding year and winning year. They will never know my name but I remember all of the little moments. Yes the expanded playoffs exacerbates this but this is the world all teams live in. Hope you enjoy the amazing race that was last year and the Mets and Braves and Phillies and Nats, and Fish will have many many great years ahead. If we are here for it we win.
100% my man.
@Troll Van Nostrand
There is one thing you are correct about, the new playoff format rewards sides that have no business being in the post season.
You need to install the sarcasm font.
The Braves pitching depth is beyond enviable. They will win this division by 10 games at least. We won’t be waiting for the final weekend of the season to see who takes it; that’s for sure.
The “DFA Ozuna” and Ozuna haters will be quiet for a few days hoping he fails again so that they can sprout their hatred.
Hopefully Wright can get right and come back as the Wright of 2022.
The Braves need to keep this going because they have a tough schedule in May, including the O’s and the Jays.
The hill you choose to fight on is whether or not people “hate” on Ozuna for batting .100? ok…
@JP8
Name me any player that hasn’t gone through a bad stretch as a baseball player, and no, they don’t have to be batting .100. You don’t kick players when they’re doing it tough, nor do you boo your own players if you call yourself a ‘fan’, it’s crass and it’s weak. You can stay on that hill with the booers, because anyone that’s played the game at a decent level doesn’t put the boot into their teammates.
LOL Ozuna deserves the boos. In fact, he deserves to be in JAIL.
This McGriff bozo is probably Marcel’s dad.
@Dr Van Nostrand
Tell me what “he deserves to be in JAIL” for, and provide facts, not hearsay or conjecture.
Oh, the ad hominem hurts me deeply, please try again.
Idk who is hoping he fails…just a matter of not wanting a guy on the team who has been performing atrociously. I certainly prefer he keeps doing what he did yesterday but I really don’t know if he’s gonna carry it over into home games or even today. Not much pressure in MIA, especially considering he played there for half a decade.
@Rishi
You don’t know? Haven’t you been watching games, or had a look on social media at the keyboard warriors who’ve been calling to DFA him, even the Atlanta press were asking Snitker why he was in the lineup. He hit over .300 in spring training, no one said a word, then all of a sudden he has a bad month where he can’t buy a hit, even though he barrelled up some balls and had some tough luck and people were saying DFA him and all the rest, and his own home crowd booed him when he came to the plate, that’s what Mets fans and Yankees fans do, it’s absolutely pathetic.
Do you think he’s not giving 100% and working hard, some people are just clueless when it comes to this game. Snitker & the coaching staff had his back, which I am pleased to say is more than some so called Atlanta ‘fans’. You also talked about pressure in Miami, his family are there, he hasn’t been booed when coming to the plate, it makes a difference, he’s comfortable, he still had pressure and delivered big time when the Braves needed it. most.
We needed all those W’s, because the month ahead is a tricky ride or negotiation as opposed to what the Mets have in front of them. We play 3 very good to excellent AL sides back to back who are all potential post season candidates.
He had a -.6 WAR in 50 at bats and he wasn’t even playing defense. He was hurting the team. That’s hard to do over a whole year. The only reason he wasn’t hurting the team much is because almost everyone else was hitting. Even if he rebounded and put up somewhat decent numbers he overall is probably gonna be a net negative to have on the team. They can’t use him in the field because he’s so bad. When D’arnaud comes back he is gonna be in the way as Rosario and Pillar are both better. And who knows about hilliard. When Arcia comes back they could also have Grissom as well, as an extra
It is certainly a tougher schedule in May besides basically starting in Miami and ending in OAK. But of all the teams they are facing this month I would think the best team is the Dodgers. But the Jays, Mariners, Orioles, Rangers, Phillies, and Red Sox (scoring a ton of runs), are all pretty good.
Ya love to see it!
I love seeing the Mets constantly fail.
clASSy
The Braves depth at SP is absurd. Gonna be just fine. I like Dodd and Shuster. As for Soroka, let’s not forget he’s missed almost two years, so there’s bound to be some rust that needs scraping off. He’s also at the stage building back up when “tired arm” syndrome , so commonly heard two or three weeks into ST, rears its ugly head.
What concerns me most is Strider. Took on a heavy work load last year upon entering the rotation. Same so far in 2023. JMHO, but the Brave are gonna have to take the pedal off the metal with him at some point. All those sexy K totals are nice, but they require a lot of pitches to get them.
Still think the Braves ought to find an everyday LF. Maybe trading a SP to the Cardinals for Tyler O’Neill would work. Seems like a perfect match. Cards have a glut of OFs they mix, match and juggle nightly. The end result is none of them get into any kind of groove at the plate. Check out O’Neill’s 2021 season. That’ll work just fine in LF.
Lastly, send Ozuna packing. Can’t see how he’s gonna succeed with so much animosity from the fans. The only thing he hasn’t been accused of yet is being the mysterious second gunman at Dealey Plaza.
Strider actually was less effective in the starts when he tried to back off. He has been more efficient with his pitch counts this season while racking up the Ks. Between the minors and majors, he pitched 35 more innings in ‘22 than he did in ‘21, so not a huge jump. Maybe you give him an occasional extra day between starts, but everyone in a modern rotation can use those.
I thought Ozuna looked like that guy holding the umbrella in Dealey Plaza.
Looking forward to those MRI results today.
At this point, there’s some likelihood that this is more than a case of inflammation (tendinitis). ATL ramped him up rather quickly after experiencing the same discomfort in the Spring. The recurrence of pain and tightness so soon after is a prime indicator of instability, labrum tears or rotator cuff tears. Best of luck to this young man. He’s going to need it.