Ozzie Albies' Injury May Have Him on the Bench for Weeks
Second baseman Ozzie Albies didn’t think he was risking his health on July 21, but now, he’s MIA from Braves games.
Published July 24 2024, 2:56 p.m. ET
When we think of the most dangerous sports, baseball doesn’t tend to top the list, even though there are often hundreds of players on the injured list (IL) throughout the MLB season. But no team is going through the curse of injuries more than the Atlanta Braves, with 11 of their Opening Day lineup roster players on the IL. After July 21, 2024, Ozzie Albies was the newest addition to the list.
Just after left-hand pitcher Max Fried went to the IL with left forearm neuritis on July 18, Ozzie walked off the field during the Braves’ Sunday series finale against the St. Louis Cardinals on July 21. But it was hard to see what exactly happened to Ozzie and if he’ll be alright. Days later, we finally have an update on his injury status.
What happened to Ozzie Albies? His wrist was hit by a player running to second base.
It was a fairly normal play in baseball, but for some reason, the stars aligned to force Ozzie off the field. The Braves were down 5-2 to the Cardinals, so in the top of the ninth inning, the Cardinals could take a few risks. After the Braves pitcher threw a strike, Cardinal Michael Siani attempted to steal second base, so catcher Travis D’Arnaud threw the ball to get him out.
However, as Ozzie went to catch the ball, Michael was sliding into second base. Michael’s body hit Ozzie’s wrist with full force as the ball escaped, the Cardinals scored another run (securing their 6-2 victory over the Braves), and Ozzie went down. As he squatted down instead of chasing the ball, onlookers could tell immediately that something was wrong.
The Braves’ athletic trainer, George Poulis, ran onto the field to check on Ozzie. The two immediately walked off the field, proving that something was definitely wrong and it wasn’t just an injury that Ozzie could shake off.
Catcher Travis explained after the game (via MLB), “The throw was up the [second base] line a little bit and [Ozzie] went to reach for the ball and the runner was there. Right away he grabbed his hand or his wrist or whatever it was. It didn’t look good. I tried to walk out there and see if he was alright, but obviously it wasn’t good. He knew. He was walking off the field right away.”
“Runner hit it and that’s never good,” Braves manager Brian Snitker added in the post-game press conference. “He’ll obviously go on the IL and go through the moves and all that kind of stuff. … Gets to a point where you go over the top here a little bit and you just can’t cover,” he added, referring to the team’s many injured players, “After a while, it’s hard.”
Ozzie Albies went to the IL, and an injury update suggests he’ll be out for a while.
According to various sources, a postgame X-ray revealed that Ozzie has a fractured left wrist. Posting on Instagram to try to find a pup a home, Ozzie is seen wearing a cast on his wrist, so it’s clear that the injury is a serious one. While it was a fairly normal play, if a player just moves or twists their wrist in the wrong way, the results can be bad.
In this case, Ozzie’s injury means he’ll likely be out for around eight weeks. Sometimes, players with serious injuries can re-enter the game sooner, but when the injury affects a player’s arm in any way, there’s no way they can be up to snuff sooner than the healing process allows. Hopefully, for the Braves, Ozzie gets better soon.
